- Date
- June 11, 1991, 03:45 local (10:45 UTC)
- Place
- Visalia, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N348AEFairchild SA227-AC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report January 22, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910611024109A
- Case key
- 27263
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 instructor/pilot-in-command's failure to adequately supervise the flight and the second pilot's improper use of the checklist and failure to maintain crew coordination to ensure that the landing gear was extended. Contributing to the accident was the silencing of the landing gear warning horn by positioning go the engine power levers.
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 certificated airplane transport pilot, the pilot-in-command and instructor pilot, was conducting company training with two captain candidates. The second-in-command, a dual student, was flying from the left seat. The instructor requested a no flap, single engine circling approach, which requires that the landing gear not be extended until a safe landing is assured. The landing gear warning horn did not sound due to the position of the flaps and engine power levers. The student made a checklist call out at a time in the landing sequence that occurs after the landing gear is lowered. Neither pilot recalled calling for the landing gear down. The instructor recalled noting that the student did not call for gear down. He stated that he was giving the student an opportunity to lower the gear without being prompted to do so. The airplane contacted the runway with the landing gear up, causing substantial damage. The three pilots were not injured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N348AE
- Reported as
- Fairchild SA227-AC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 613
- Airframe hours
- 11,148
- Engine
- Garrett TPE331-11, 1,000 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Wings West Airlines Inc
- Registered owner
- First Security Bank Utah
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 2, 1991 · 372 hours before
- Airport
- VIS · Visalia, runway 3, 6,556 × 150 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 39
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4,785 total · 879 in this make and model · 3,767 as pilot in command · 124 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.