- Date
- October 4, 1997, 19:00 local (Oct 5, 1997, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Albuquerque, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N93089Cessna 210L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971004042689A
- Case key
- 20460
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. A related factor was his attention being diverted.
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 pilot was vectored onto a long final approach to runway 30. About 3 miles from the runway, he slowed the airplane to 140 knots (Vgo), then slowed further to the flap operating speed (Vfo). He was going through the final prelanding checklist when a 'bright' annunciator light on the GPS (global positioning system) display panel illuminated. The pilot said he was distracted by this light and was trying to turn it off. The pilot wrote, 'With this distraction, I failed to check for the gear down green light and landed with the gear up. The gear horn came on as I flared, but it was too late.'
Factual narrative
On October 4, 1997, approximately 1900 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 210L, N93089, was substantially damaged during an inadvertent wheels up landing at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The private pilot, and sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, approximately 1800.
This event was originally classified as an incident and upgraded to an accident after the airplane was inspected by a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector.
According to the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot, he contacted approach control and was subsequently vectored onto a long final approach to runway 30. When the airplane was 3 miles from the runway, he slowed the airplane to 140 knots (Vgo), then slowed further to flaps operating speed (Vfo). The pilot was going through the final prelanding checklist when a "bright" annunciator light on the GPS (global positioning system) display panel illuminated. The pilot said he was distracted by this light and was trying to turn it off. The pilot wrote, "With this distraction, I failed to check for the gear down green light and landed with the gear up. The gear horn came on as I flared, but it was too late."
Inspection disclosed a structural rib behind the passenger door was damaged to the extent that it had to be replaced.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93089
- Reported as
- Cessna 210L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21060253
- Airframe hours
- 3,600
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-L, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- San Martin Flying Mission
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 30, 1996 · 220 hours before
- Departed
- Q58 · Santa Rosa, NM
- Destination
- ABQ
- Airport
- ABQ · Albuquerque International, runway 30, 5,130 × 150 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
- 73
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,940 total · 5,500 in this make and model · 7,940 as pilot in command · 82 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 40° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABQ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.