- Date
- June 25, 2024, 13:13 local (18:13 UTC)
- Place
- Montgomery, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N14175Piper PA23
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear collapse
- 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
- 20240625007479A
- Case key
- 194545
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 failure of the nose landing gear actuator to maintain a fully down and locked position.
Findings · 1
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 reported that he was completing a practice instrument approach, and after extending the landing gear he saw 3 green lights, indicating the landing gear were down and locked. He continued the approach as normal and touched down on the main landing gear, but as the nose lowered it continued “straight to the ground.” The airplane skidded on its nose down the runway before coming to a stop. The forward lower portion of the airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged. Following the accident, the nose landing gear actuator was removed, and bench-tested under the supervision of a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. The test revealed that when hydraulic pressure was removed from extension side of the actuator it began an uncommanded movement in the opposite, landing gear retraction, direction. This uncommanded movement was likely due to internal leakage in the actuator, which would have prevented the nose landing gear from remaining in the fully down and locked position.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N14175
- Reported as
- Piper PA23 (250)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27-4739
- Built
- 1971
- Airframe hours
- 5,730
- Engines
- Lycoming IO-540-C4B5, 250 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO-540-C4B5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Box Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Box Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 5, 2024 · 18 hours before
- Airport
- MGM · Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld), runway 28, 9,020 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 1, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,701 total · 13 in this make and model · 1,522 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 99 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- MGM, 1 nm away
- METAR
- KMGM 251753Z 27007KT 10SM CLR 37/16 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP139 T03670156 10367 20233 58005
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2024, 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.