- Date
- December 13, 2002, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Odessa, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6068PPiper PA-24-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20021213033869A
- Case key
- 56235
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 inadvertent failure to extended the landing gear.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The flight returned to the airport from the local area and entered left downwind for the runway. During the landing/flare, the pilot realized that he did not have the landing gear down. The airplane came in contact with the runway, skidded 1,000-1,200 feet, then exited the runway into grass, weeds, and soft dirt before coming to rest. The airplane was lifted, the landing gear manually extended, and the airplane towed to the hangar. The lower forward cockpit structures and the firewall were damaged. The 893-hour private pilot had accumulated 282-hours in the same make and model retractable gear airplane.
Factual narrative
On December 13, 2002, at 1530 central standard time, a Piper PA-24-180, airplane, N6068P, sustained substantial damage during a gear-up landing at the Odessa-Schlemeyer Airport, near Odessa, Texas. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot, sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight, and a flight plan was not filed. The personal flight originated from the Odessa-Schlemeyer Airport approximately 1330.
On the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) the pilot reported that the flight returned to the airport from the local area and entered left downwind for runway 16. During the before landing checks, the pilot thought that he had extended the landing gear. However, after the landing/flare, he realized that he did not have the landing gear down. The airplane came in contact with the runway, skidded 1,000-1,200 feet, then exited the runway into grass, weeds, and soft dirt before coming to rest. With the assistance of airport personnel, the airplane was lifted, the landing gear manually extended, and the airplane towed to the hangar.
The private pilot had accumulated 893 hours of flight time, of which 282 hours was in the accident make and model of retractable gear airplane.
The pilot and the FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, found substantial damage to the lower forward cockpit structures and the engine firewall. The propeller was found bent.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6068P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1164
- Airframe hours
- 4,323
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David M. Baldwin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 12, 2002 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- ODO · Odessa, TX
- Airport
- ODO · Odessa-Schlemeyer, runway 16, 5,003 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 19, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 893 total · 282 in this make and model · 686 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- ODO
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.