Pilot Debrief

Piper PA 30 near Phoenix, AZ — 2019-08-08

Final reportWPR19LA220
Sign in to save
Date
2019-08-08
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Airport
IWA
Aircraft
Piper PA 30
Registration
N10KC
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The failure of the landing gear due to the nose gear being positioned to the far right during retraction, which caused the nose gear to jam upon retraction.

NTSB narrative

During an instructional flight practicing a single-engine approach and go-around, the flight instructor and student pilot noticed that the landing gear would not fully retract. In addition, the landing gear circuit breaker was in the open position. The flight instructor reset the circuit breaker and attempted to cycle the landing gear but was unsuccessful because the circuit breaker popped back to the open position on each cycle attempt. Attempts to manually extend the landing gear were unsuccessful. Subsequently, the flight instructor elected to land with the landing gear intentionally in the retracted position, resulting to substantial damage to the lower fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the nose gear was positioned to the far right turn position when the pilots attempted to retract the nose gear while practicing a single engine out landing and takeoff. Therefore, the centering mechanism was not able to center the nose gear, resulting in a jammed nose gear, which also likely tripped the circuit breaker.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Attempting to reset the circuit breaker after the gear failed to retract.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

Related mishaps