- Date
- July 2, 1996, 10:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Paris, ID
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5246PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 23, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960702015849A
- Case key
- 42405
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 forgot to extend the landing gear before landing. Factors relating to the accident were: an interuption of the pilot's habit pattern, when he circled to provide time for another airplane to takeoff as he entered the traffic pattern; and his failure to follow the available checklist.
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
As the pilot was entering the pattern, he made a 360 degree turn to allow time for another aircraft to depart. As he reentered the pattern, he failed to recheck the checklist, which he had on his instrument panel. He continued the pattern, and during touchdown, he realized that he had forgotten to lower the gear.
Factual narrative
On July 2, 1996, approximately 1045 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250, N5246P, landed wheels-up at Bear Lake County Airport near Paris, Idaho. The airplane was substantially damaged in the landing. According to the FAA preliminary accident notice, the pilot was on a 14 CFR 91 local pleasure flight. He had departed Bear Lake County Airport about 15 minutes earlier in order to give some friends a ride around the area. The flight was being conducted in visual meteorological conditions, and no flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, he made a 360 degree turn while entering the pattern in order to provide an aircraft that was taxiing out time to depart. When he reentered the pattern, he forgot to "recheck" the checklist that was on his instrument panel. He continued around the pattern, and upon touchdown realized that he had forgotten to lower the gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5246P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-277
- Airframe hours
- 3,488
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-1A1, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Clair S. Wood
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 8, 1996 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- 1U7
- Airport
- 1U7 · Bear Lake County, runway 10, 5,730 × 75 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
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,600 total · 421 in this make and model · 23 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.