Piper PA-30 N44HM

Summary

On 17 July 2008 at about 15:10 local time, a Piper PA-30 registered N44HM was involved in an accident near Rockport, Texas, United States. 3 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

17 July 2008 at 15:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Rockport, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Aransas County Airport (KRKP)

Coordinates

28.0853, -97.0400

Aircraft

Piper PA-30

Registration

N44HM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rockport → Rockport

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08CA193

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to complete all cockpit checklist items prior to takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to properly configure the landing gear switch.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was on the take off roll at approximately 90 knots when he took his hands off the throttles, and began applying back pressure for lift off. Almost immediately the aircraft began to sink followed by the sounds of the props striking the runway. All three landing gear were partially retracted as the airplane slid along the runway surface and came to a stop with resulting substantial damage to the belly structure. The pilot and both passengers were not injured. After the accident the pilot discovered that he had inadvertently left the landing gear switch in the "up" position while completing other items in the cockpit checklist. During the recovery operations the airplane was then jacked and the gear was lowered normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.