Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA 31 near Clearwater, FL — 2015-12-12

Final reportGAA16LA087
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Date
2015-12-12
Location
Clearwater, FL, USA
Airport
CLW
Aircraft
PIPER PA 31
Registration
N27405
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear before landing.

NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that, on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, he applied flaps and pushed the landing gear lever "completely down" and then saw the landing gear extension indicator lights illuminate. On short final and as the airplane passed through 500 ft above ground level, he verified that the three green landing gear extension lights had illuminated and applied full flaps for landing. Subsequently, the airplane landed hard with the gear retracted and skidded to a stop on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that it sustained substantial damage to the fuselage keel beam, formers, and stringers. Postaccident examination of the landing gear system revealed no evidence of any faults, malfunctions, or anomalies with the system, including the landing gear extension indicator lights and warning horn. It is likely that the pilot failed to extend the landing gear, which resulted in the gear-up landing.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have verified landing gear position before landing.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 3 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents3

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