- Date
- March 5, 2026, 11:55 local (16:55 UTC)
- Place
- St. Augustine, FL · Northeast Florida Regional Airport
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N44443Piper PA-28R-200
- Defining event
- Landing: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 2026
- 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
- 20260305002549A
- Case key
- 202608
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, while on final approach to land he was concerned with the preceding aircraft clearing the runway and did not extend the landing gear. The airplane subsequently touched down with the landing gear retracted. The airplane came to rest on the runway and sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that the airplane’s landing gear position warning horn was functional, but that he and the passengers were not able to hear it due to the noise canceling headsets that they were wearing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44443
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7535001
- Built
- 1974
- Airframe hours
- 3,383
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jax Navy Flying Club
- Registered owner
- Jax Navy Flying Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 28, 2017
- Departed
- NIP · Jacksonville, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SGJ · St Augustine, runway 13, 8,001 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Auto-pilot
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
- 75
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 13, 2026
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 27,980 total · 13 in this make and model · 26,008 as pilot in command · 94 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 25, 2026
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 2,045 total · 311 in this make and model · 1,888 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- SGJ
- METAR
- METAR KSGJ 051656Z 09006KT 10SM CLR 24/20 A3026 RMK AO2 SLPNO T02390200 $
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.