- Date
- June 4, 2022, 12:56 local (16:56 UTC)
- Place
- Spencer, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8429XPiper PA-32R-301
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220604009529A
- Case key
- 105193
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear before landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to use the landing checklist.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated he was flying to another airport for lunch, and as he approached the airport, he was looking around for other airplanes in the traffic pattern and “just forgot” to extend the landing gear. He further stated he did not use the landing checklist. He subsequently landed the airplane with the landing gear retracted, which resulted in substantial damage to the lower fuselage longerons.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8429X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32R-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R-8113105
- Built
- 1981
- Airframe hours
- 3,968
- Engine
- Lycoming IO540, 300 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 20, 2021
- Departed
- DAN · Danville, VA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- MTV · Blue Ridge Airport, runway 13, 5,002 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Military, Recreational, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 18, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,550 total · 1,480 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KMTV
- METAR
- KMTV 041655Z AUTO 07005KT 10SM SCT070 25/12 A3000 RMK AO2 T02480117
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 14, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.