- Date
- November 26, 2023, 08:35 local (13:35 UTC)
- Place
- Valdosta, GA · VLD Airport
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N94EMBeech A36
- 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/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20231126020569I
- Case key
- 193428
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.
Findings · 2
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 that during the landing flare he realized that he forgot to extend the landing gear and determined it was too late to go around. The underside of the airplane’s fuselage settled onto the runway and skidded down the asphalt, resulting in substantial damage to the structure of the fuselage. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions that would have prevented normal operation of the airplane. The airplane was equipped with a landing gear position warning horn that was designed to sound when the throttle lever was pulled back for landing. The pilot reported that he did not specifically remember hearing the warning horn during the landing flare; however, he stated he might have mistaken the landing gear warning horn for the stall warning horn as he was expecting to hear the stall warning during the landing flare. The pilot reported that when he went back to the airplane after the accident and powered up the airplane’s electrical system, the landing gear warning horn operated normally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N94EM
- Reported as
- Beech A36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-2011
- Built
- 1982
- Airframe hours
- 6,834.41
- Engine
- Continental Aerospace Technologies IO-550-B6A, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Skyclub A36 LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 21, 2023 · 167.59 hours before
- Departed
- PDK · Chamblee, GA
- Destination
- VLD · Valdosta, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- VLD · Valdosta Rgnl, runway 17/35, 8,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system
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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 29, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 5,147 total · 692 in this make and model · 5,049 as pilot in command · 28 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KVLD
- METAR
- KVLD 261253Z 14005KT 7SM -RA SCT060 BKN075 OVC095 13/11 A3009 RMK AO2 RAB1154 SLP199 P0003 T01280111
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 25, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 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.