- Date
- May 18, 2023, 11:59 local (15:59 UTC)
- Place
- Petersburg, WV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N80YBeech 65-A90-1
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230518005649A
- Case key
- 180446
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 flight crew’s failure to ensure that the landing gear were properly configured before landing.
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 and the flight instructor were performing flight training in the turbo-propeller-powered, multi-engine airplane. After completing two uneventful takeoffs and landings, the instructor and the pilot briefed that they would next perform a no-flap landing. While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot called for the before landing checklist. The instructor began reading the checklist, the pilot pushed the propeller controls fully forward, and the flight instructor mentioned that the pilot needed to hold the airplane’s attitude in order to slow the airplane to the desired airspeed. The flight instructor further described, “I was coaching the [pilot] on centerline and speed and neither of us realized that we had not completed the landing checklist.” During the landing flare, the flight instructor heard a metallic scraping sound, and began to abort the landing, about which time the pilot noted that the landing gear was not extended. After two attempts to increase engine power and climb, the flight instructor realized that the airplane was not controllable and decided to land on the grass next to the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane’s right wing was substantially damaged during the landing. The operator reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, nor did either of the flight crew report any, with the exception that neither crewmember recalled hearing the landing gear position warning system horn activate at any point. Maintenance personnel tested the system following the accident and noted no anomalies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80Y
- Reported as
- Beech 65-A90-1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LM-79
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 21,534.2
- Engines
- Pratt & Whitney PT6A-28, 680 horsepower, turbo propPratt & Whitney PT6A-28, 680 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Dynamic Aviation Group, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Dynamic Avlease Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · January 27, 2023
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- W99 · Grant County Airport, runway 31, 5,000 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 31, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,425 total · 328 in this make and model · 6,640 as pilot in command · 168 in the last 90 days · 53 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 16, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,104 total · 720 in this make and model · 750 as pilot in command · 206 in the last 90 days · 86 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.27 inHg
- Observed at
- KCBE, 40 nm away
- METAR
- KCBE 181605Z AUTO 18006KT 10SM CLR 16/03 A3027 RMK AO2 T01610030
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.8 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.