- Date
- March 20, 2006, 17:57 local (22:57 UTC)
- Place
- Morristown, NJ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N13878Piper PA23-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060320011719A
- Case key
- 63364
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 premature shutdown of both engines, which resulted in a forced landing short of the runway. A factor was a landing gear malfunction indication for undetermined reasons.
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
Landing gear indications were normal for both the preflight inspection and gear retraction after takeoff. However, at the destination airport, the right main landing down gear indication did not illuminate when the landing gear was lowered. The pilot flew by the control tower, and was advised that the landing gear "appeared to be down." The pilot subsequently switched indicator bulbs, and determined that the bulb was not the problem. The pilot did not report attempting to pump the landing gear down. Because of the amount of fuel onboard, the pilot decided to feather and shut down both engines during the final approach. However, after doing so, the airplane struck a berm short of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that damage to the airplane precluded further investigation of the landing gear system.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, landing gear indications were normal for both the pre-flight inspection and gear retraction after takeoff. However, at the destination airport, the right main landing gear down indication did not illuminate when the landing gear was lowered. The pilot flew by the control tower, and was advised that the landing gear "appeared to be down." The pilot subsequently switched indicator bulbs, and determined that the bulb was not the problem. The pilot did not report attempting to pump the landing gear down. Because of the amount of fuel onboard, the pilot decided to feather and shut down both engines during the final approach. However, after doing so, the airplane struck a berm short of the runway. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector reported that damage to the airplane precluded further investigation of the landing gear system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N13878
- Reported as
- Piper PA23-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27-4513
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Northeast Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PNE · Philadelphia, PA
- Destination
- MMU · Morristown, NJ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MMU · Morristown Municipal, runway 31
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 1,500 in this make and model
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.