Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA-31T near Columbia, MO — 2010-02-04

Final reportCEN10CA116
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Date
2010-02-04
Location
Columbia, MO, USA
Airport
COU
Aircraft
PIPER PA-31T
Registration
N723JP
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to verify that the landing gear was fully extended prior to landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the accident occurred during landing at the destination airport under visual weather conditions and light winds. He stated that upon landing, the left main landing gear collapsed and the left wing contacted the runway. The airplane subsequently departed the runway pavement and came to rest about mid-field in the grass adjacent to the runway. It had rotated about 180 degrees and was oriented on an approximately reciprocal heading. The right main landing gear also collapsed during the accident sequence. The pilot stated that verifying the landing gear indications was normally part of his before-landing procedure; however, he could not specifically recall observing three green indications prior to the accident. A postaccident examination revealed substantial damage to the lower fuselage in the vicinity of the cabin entry door. In addition, the inboard landing gear doors exhibited crushing damage consistent with the landing gear being in transit at the time of contact with the runway. The inboard landing gear doors open when the gear is in transit and close after the gear extension sequence is complete. Recorded winds at the time of the accident were 8 knots.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not verify landing gear indications before landing.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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