Pilot Debrief

BEECH A35 near Maricopa, AZ — 2024-02-11

Final reportWPR24LA086
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Date
2024-02-11
Location
Maricopa, AZ, USA
Airport
A39
Aircraft
BEECH A35
Registration
N691B
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to properly configure the landing gear and verify its position before landing, which resulted in a gear-up landing.

NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that she put the landing gear switch in the down position when the airplane was midfield on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and lowered the flaps on the base turn. The pilot also stated that she did not look at the gear position indicator before landing. Security video captured the airplane on short final, and the landing gear appeared to be in the retracted position. The airplane subsequently landed gear-up, substantially damaging the fuselage. Following the accident, the landing gear switch was found in the down position, and the main landing gear doors were partially extended, with the inboard edges of the doors contacting the ground. Postaccident examination revealed no damage to the left main landing gear door, scraping damage to the extended ridge on the right main landing gear door, and scraping damage to the aft and outboard edges of the nose gear doors. The observed damage was consistent with all the landing gear being fully retracted upon landing. An operational check of the landing gear system revealed no anomalies. The accident is consistent with the pilot’s failure to configure the landing gear and to verify its position before landing.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Pilot did not check gear position indicator before landing.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Video
  • Photos
  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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