- Date
- July 9, 2025, 23:26 local (Jul 10, 2025, 03:26 UTC)
- Place
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1293TPiper PA34
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 2025
- 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
- 20250709016639A
- Case key
- 200522
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 instructor’s inadequate supervision and delayed remedial actions during the landing approach, which resulted in the airplane contacting the runway with the landing gear retracted.
Findings · 4
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
Being high in relation to destination airport, the flight instructor of the multi-engine airplane initiated a steep descent with the throttles at idle. During the descent, the landing gear warning horn sounded, which the flight instructor thought was the stall warning. After descending to traffic pattern altitude, the flight instructor transferred control back to the multi-engine student, who joined base-to-final leg of the airport traffic pattern. The student subsequently recommended either performing a go-around or squaring the base turn to final approach for landing. The flight instructor directed him to perform “S-turns” which he felt uncomfortable doing and the tower controller instructed them to maneuver as needed. The student then transferred control of the airplane back to the flight instructor either on the base leg or short final approach. While on short final approach (likely due to cockpit annunciation of either the radio altimeter or throttles being at idle with the landing gear not extended) the flight instructor recognized that the landing gear was not configured for landing and initiated a go-around. The airplane was too low and subsequently contacted the runway with the landing gear retracted, resulting in substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage. After raising the airplane from the runway, the landing gear was extended using the normal system with no reported issues.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1293T
- Reported as
- Piper PA34 (200)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34-7250283
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 10,046
- Engines
- Lycoming LIO-360-C1E6, 200 horsepower, reciprocatingLycoming IO-360-C1E6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- ATA Flight School
- Registered owner
- N1293t LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 22, 2025 · 88 hours before
- Departed
- CRG · Jacksonville, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- FXE · Fort Lauderdale Executive, runway 09, 6,002 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 26, 2024
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 372 total · 9 in this make and model · 52 in the last 90 days
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 23
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 22, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 140 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Wind
- 130° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- KFXE
- METAR
- METAR KFXE 100253Z 13004KT 10SM CLR 29/24 A3010 RMK AO2 SLP194 T02940239 51016 $=
Docket · 7
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 14, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 30.8 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.