- Date
- November 25, 2003, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Kutztown, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5406PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20031125036609A
- Case key
- 58882
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 inadvertent retraction of the landing gear on the ground.
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
During the rollout after landing, the pilot turned off the landing lights, turned off the fuel pump, and after raising the flaps, the landing gear retracted and the airplane settled on to the ground. The pilot did not recall if he raised the landing gear selector lever, and did not check its position after the accident. After the accident, the pilot had the airplane removed from the runway and placed into a hangar, where it was discovered about 3 months later by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector conducting routine surveillance at the airport.
Factual narrative
On November 25, 2003, about 1600 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-24-250, N5406P, was substantially damaged while landing at the Kutztown Airport (N31), Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, after landing on runway 28, a 2,221-foot long asphalt runway, during the rollout, he turned off the landing lights, turned off the fuel pump, and after raising the flaps, the landing gear retracted and the airplane settled on to the ground.
The pilot did not recall if he raised the landing gear selector lever, and did not check its position after the accident.
After the accident, the pilot had the airplane removed from the runway and placed into a hangar, where it was discovered about 3 months later by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector conducting routine surveillance at the airport.
Examination of the wreckage by the FAA inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5406P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-460
- Airframe hours
- 4,261
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Transportation Skills Programs Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 17, 2002 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- N31 · Kutztown, PA
- Destination
- N31
- Airport
- N31 · Kutztown Airport, runway 35, 2,485 × 50 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
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- May 8, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,505 total · 808 in this make and model · 1,345 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- RDG
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5406P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.