# NTSB MIA03CA117: Beech 95-B55, N258P, Forest, MS, May 30, 2003 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report - Date: May 30, 2003, 15:45 local (20:45 UTC) - Place: Forest, MS - Coordinates: 32.353332, -89.488609 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.3533&lon=-89.4886&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report November 25, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 57126 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=MIA03CA117 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/57126/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA03CA117 ## Probable cause the failure of the pilot-in-command to extend the landing gear, or use the checklist while on landing approach, resulting in a gear up landing. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Wheels up landing, landing - flare/touchdown - gear extension - not performed, pilot in command (cause) - checklist - not performed, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis According to the pilot when he started turning base leg he began noticing that the plane was not slowing down like it should and he decided to lower to full flaps. This still "did not alert" him to the fact that the gear was not down. When he turned to final he increased the speed, to about 1OO knots all the way down to short final. He held 15 inches of manifold pressure up until the flair. At the time of flair he reduced the power to idle, and immediately the landing gear warning horn started sounding. He said his mind "was stuck on airspeed," he "immediately" thought it was the stall warning horn, and lowered the nose a little. He leveled the wings, held the airplane off the runway, and bled off airspeed. When the airplane finally touched down, about half way down the runway the "grinding" sound started, and he realized the landing gear was retracted. An inspection of the cockpit showed the landing gear handle in the "up position." The on scene investigation revealed that the airplane had slid on its belly for over 1,000 feet. The pilot, was at the scene and immediately reported to the FAA inspector, "...that he had forgot to put the landing gear down." He further stated he had a checklist but "did not use it." The airplane received substantial damage to the bottom fuselage; to the extent several ribs were ground completely through the thickness of the metal. ## Factual narrative On May 30, 2003, about 1545 central daylight time, a Beech 95-B55, N258P, registered to and operated by an individual, landed gear up at the G.V. Montgomery Airport, Forest, Mississippi. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 Personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private-rated pilot-in-command reported no injuries. The flight departed the same airport at 1500. According to the pilot upon arriving in the vicinity of the destination airport, he checked the weather and the wind sock. He flew across the field, turned down wind for runway 16, slowed the airplane to flap and gear extension speed. He said his "usual procedure" was to reduce manifold pressure to 15 inches, set I5 degrees of flaps, and at the same time "lower" the landing gear. For some reason the only thing he did was to "...lower the flaps this time...the landing gear never crossed [his] mind." He said his passenger and he were talking, and he is usually "very meticulous" about this routine for remembering the landing gear. He could not explain why he "did not follow" his usual routine this time. When he turned base leg he began noticing that the plane was not slowing down like it should and he decided to lower to full flaps. This still "did not alert" him to the fact that the gear was not down. When he turned to final he increased the airspeed to about 100 knots all the way down to short final. He said his usual procedure was after getting set up on final approach, he "always" put his right index finger on the landing gear lights and verbally say "three in the green", but again the landing gear procedure "never entered [his] mind." He held 15 inches of manifold pressure up until the landing flare. After flaring he reduced the power to idle, and immediately the landing gear warning horn started sounding. He said his mind "was stuck on airspeed," and he "immediately" thought it was the "stall warning horn, and lowered the nose a little. There was still no thought of the landing gear. Once he had the plane level going down the runway he remembered thinking that it didn't matter if it stalled and he just kept holding it off and bleeding off airspeed. When the airplane finally touched down, about half way down the runway the "grinding" sound started, and "[he] finally thought about the landing gear." According to the FAA Inspector's statement, the pilot, was at the crash scene and immediately reported to him "...that he had forgot to put the landing gear down." He further stated he had a checklist but "did not use it." The on scene investigation revealed that the airplane had slid on its belly for over 1,000 feet. The airplane received "substantial damage to the bottom fuselage; to the extent several ribs were ground completely through the thickness of the metal." ## Aircraft - Registration: [N258P](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N258P), registered now, S/N TC-2414, built 1981 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Beech 95-B55 - Registry model: [Beech 95-B55 (T42A)](https://openairdocs.org/model/beech-95-b55-t42a) (registry code 1152706) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental I0-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-i0-470-series) (registry code 17027, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: TC-2414 - Engines: Continental IO-460L reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Allen Kitchens - Registered owner: K.B. Leasing - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: M11, CRYSTAL SPRINGS, MS - Destination: Forest, MS - Flight plan: Unknown - Airport: 2M4, G. V. Montgomery, runway 16 ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 52; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 3; flight hours: 1,833 total, 600 in this make and model, 5 in the last 90 days, 1 in the last 30 days ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20030530009939A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030530009939A), May 30, 2003: Beech T42A, Forest, MS, Substantial damage. (-23) Aircraft landed gear up on runway 16 at g.v. montgomery (2M4) forrest, MS. Pilot stated he forgot to put the landing gear down. Checklist available but… ## Other investigations on N258P (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB FTW93LA213](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW93LA213), Jul 3, 1993: Beech 95-B55B (N258P), Ashdown, AR, substantial damage. Probable cause: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ABORT THE LANDING. A FACTOR WAS THE WET GRASS From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.