- Date
- April 16, 2018, 21:30 local (Apr 17, 2018, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Suffolk, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4464SBeech 95 B55
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180416000229A
- Case key
- 97167
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 properly secure the portable GPS and antenna cable, which resulted in the inadvertent landing gear retraction during landing.
Findings · 3
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 in the retractable-landing gear-equipped airplane reported that, during the flight, his GPS had fallen from its mount and that the antenna cable became wrapped around the landing gear switch. Before landing, the pilot applied aft pressure to the yoke to enter the flare, and the antenna cable moved the landing gear switch to the retract position. The airplane landed with the landing gear retracted and skidded to a stop on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage longerons and stringers and the wing-spar carry-through. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot in the retractable landing gear-equipped airplane reported that during the flight, his GPS had fallen from its mount and the antenna cable became wrapped around the landing gear switch. Prior to landing, the pilot applied aft pressure to the yoke to enter the flare and the antenna cable moved the landing gear switch to the retract position. The airplane landed with the landing gear retracted and skidded to a stop on the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage longerons and stringers, and the wing-spar carry through. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4464S
- Reported as
- Beech 95 B55 (T42A)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC-1878
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 8,042.6
- Engines
- Continental IO-470 L, 260 horsepower, reciprocatingContinental IO-470 L, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Moosehead Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Moosehead Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 2017
- Departed
- ISM · Orlando, FL
- Destination
- SFQ · Suffolk, VA
- Airport
- SFQ · Suffolk Executive, runway 25, 3,750 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Auto-pilot, Handheld GPS, Satellite tracking device
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 6, 2007
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 26,200 total · 530 in this make and model · 25,550 as pilot in command · 58 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 8 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.65 inHg
- Observed at
- KSFQ
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 17, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 41.6 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.