- Date
- July 12, 2000, 18:45 local (Jul 13, 2000, 01:45 UTC)
- Place
- Battle Mountain, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3273DCessna 337G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 1, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000712007379A
- Case key
- 49711
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
Failure of the pilot to extend the landing gear, and his failure to follow the published before landing checklist concerning extension of 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 airplane landed gear up. The pilot did not verify that the landing gear handle was in the down position, or that the landing gear light was illuminated with a green light. He also did not check the mirror located on the airplane to verify that the landing gear was in the extended position. The pilot also stated that he did not follow a mental or printed checklist during the landing sequence of the approach. He had flown the airplane earlier that day with no discrepancies noted with the landing gear system.
Factual narrative
On July 12, 2000, at 1845 hours Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 337G, N3273D, landed gear up at the Battle Mountain, Nevada, airport. The airplane was operated by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management as a public-use flight, under 14 CFR Part 91, and sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the cross-country flight that departed the Boise, Idaho airport at 1730, and was scheduled to terminate at Battle Mountain. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed.
In an interview with a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the pilot stated that he forgot to put the landing gear down. He indicated that because he had kept his airspeed up during the descent for a high altitude landing, the landing gear warning horn did not activate. He had flown the airplane earlier that day from Battle Mountain to Boise to exchange firefighting crews, and no discrepancies were noted with the landing gear system.
In an interview with an Air Safety Investigator from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Aircraft Services, the pilot stated that during the landing flare he did not hear the landing gear warning horn sound. He reported that he did not check that the landing gear green light was illuminated, or visually verify with the mirror located on the outside of the airplane to see if the landing gear was extended. He further stated that he did not verify that the landing gear handle was in the down position. The pilot indicated that he did not follow a mental or printed checklist for landing, and that there was not a printed checklist for putting the landing gear down.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3273D
- Reported as
- Cessna 337G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 33701491
- Airframe hours
- 2,110
- Engine
- Continental IO-360-G, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Operator
- US Dept Of Interior
- Registered owner
- Jaharis Family Trust
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 2, 2000 · 54 hours before
- Departed
- BOI · Boise, ID
- Destination
- BAM
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- BAM · Battle Mountain, runway 21, 7,299 × 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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,600 total · 432 in this make and model · 1,900 as pilot in command · 69 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 290° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 183 °F, dew point 109 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO, 170 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.