- Date
- June 26, 2019, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Caldwell, NJ
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1361ZBeech 35
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190626008039A
- Case key
- 99868
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 distraction while looking for traffic, which led to his failure to extend the landing gear before landing, and his exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during a subsequent go-around, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 5
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 the air traffic tower controller had cleared him to land behind another airplane and that he was distracted searching for the airplane ahead and did not extend the landing gear. He eventually visually located the traffic and continued the approach. He did not hear the landing gear warning horn. During the landing, a passenger yelled that the landing gear was still up, and the tower controller called for a go-around. The pilot pulled back on the yoke and added power. The airplane aerodynamically stalled, the left wing dropped and impacted the ground, and the airplane came to rest in grass left of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the retractable landing gear airplane reported that, the tower controller had cleared him to land behind another aircraft, and that he was distracted searching for the aircraft ahead and did not extend the landing gear. He eventually visually located the traffic and continued the approach. He did not hear the landing gear warning horn. During the landing, a passenger yelled that the landing gear was still up and the tower controller called for a go around. He pulled back on the yoke and added power. The airplane aerodynamically stalled, the left wing dropped, impacted the ground, and the airplane came to rest in the grass to the left of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1361Z
- Reported as
- Beech 35 (N35)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-6781
- Built
- 1961
- Airframe hours
- 5,389
- Engine
- Continental IO-470-N14B, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 18, 2018
- Departed
- GED · Georgetown, DE
- Destination
- CDW · Caldwell, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CDW · Essex County, runway 22, 4,552 × 80 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Satellite tracking device, Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 71
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Waiver time limited special
- Last flight review
- February 15, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,415 total · 126 in this make and model · 2,241 as pilot in command · 54 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- KCDW
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 19, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.0 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.