Swearingen SA-227-AC N2671V

Summary

On 16 August 1999 at about 22:33 local time, a Swearingen SA-227-AC registered N2671V, operated by Merlin Express, was involved in an accident near San Antonio, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 August 1999 at 22:33

Classification

Accident

Location

San Antonio, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

San Antonio International (SAT)

Coordinates

29.5399, -98.4910

Aircraft

Swearingen SA-227-AC

Registration

N2671V

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Merlin Express

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Antonio → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW99FA223

Nobody was injured.

The instructor pilot's failure to complete the Emergency Gear Extension Checklist, resulting in the inadvertent wheels-up landing. A factor was the instructor pilot's fatigued condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane landed wheels up after the instructor pilot failed to lower the landing gear. The instructor told the student to execute 'a no flap landing due to a simulated hydraulic pump failure.' The student established the airplane on the approach and called for the 'Emergency Gear Extension Checklist.' The instructor delayed extending the gear in accordance with the operator's flight standards manual, which stated that the landing gear should not be extended until the landing was assured. Later in the approach, when the gear warning horn stopped sounding, due to the student's movement of the power levers forward, the instructor removed his hand from the gear handle without extending the gear. The instructor stated that 'because [the student] had already called for the [Emergency Gear Extension] checklist once before, in a split second thought process, [he] mistakenly thought it had been completed.' Following the accident, the landing gear system was tested and found to operate normally. Review of the maintenance records revealed no uncorrected discrepancies. At the time of the accident, the instructor pilot was completing a 9-hour work day, and did not have a lunch break.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.