- Date
- February 23, 2026, 18:00 local (Feb 24, 2026, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Big Bear, CA · airport environment
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N811LEPiper PA-30
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing gear collapse
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20260223001569A
- Case key
- 202498
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Preliminary report
What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.
On February 23, 2026, at 1800 Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-30, N811LE, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Big Bear, California. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported an uneventful flight from Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport (MYF), San Diego, California, to Big Bear City Airport (L35), Big Bear, California. Upon arrival at L35, the pilot extended the landing gear and saw that the nose landing gear was extended down, but the green landing gear light was not illuminated. After touchdown, the landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid down the runway, which resulted in damage to the fuselage undercarriage. The airplane was recovered to a secure facility for further examination.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N811LE
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1224
- Built
- 1966
- Airframe hours
- 6,065
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 7, 2025
- Departed
- MYF · San Diego, CA
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- L35 · Big Bear City, runway 08/26, 5,850 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.33 inHg
- Observed at
- KL35
- METAR
- METAR KL35 240155Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 06/M03 A3033 RMK AO2
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 N811LE · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.