- Date
- May 28, 2019, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hilton Head, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N998LSRatheon A36
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear not configured
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 13, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190528005329A
- Case key
- 99518
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. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to complete the before landing checklist.
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 reported that, during an instrument flight rules approach, he failed to extend the landing gear, and the airplane landed on the runway with the landing gear retracted. The pilot added that the accident could have been prevented by "paying much closer attention to the checklists." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident 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 an instrument flight rules approach, he failed to extend the landing gear. The airplane landed on the runway with the landing gear retracted. The pilot added that this accident could have been prevented by, "paying much closer attention to the checklists." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N998LS
- Reported as
- Ratheon A36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-3204
- Built
- 1998
- Airframe hours
- 2,083.4
- Engine
- Continental IO-550, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- F & S Aviation Llc
- Registered owner
- F & S Aviation Llc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 5, 2019
- Departed
- AVL · Asheville, NC
- Destination
- HXD · Hilton Head, SC
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- HXD · Hilton Head, runway 03, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, ADS-B, Angle of attack indicator, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, 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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 31, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 600 total · 350 in this make and model · 500 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 95 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KHXD
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 4, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.3 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.