Piper PA-28R-201T N9268C

Summary

On 6 October 2011 at about 15:00 local time, a Piper PA-28R-201T registered N9268C was involved in an accident near Culpeper, Virginia, United States. One person was 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

6 October 2011 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Culpeper, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Culpeper Regional Airprot (CJR)

Coordinates

38.5219, -77.8556

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-201T

Registration

N9268C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Culpeper → Culpeper

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12CA028

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate knowledge of the airplane's emergency gear extension procedures, which resulted in his failure to successfully perform a manual extension of the landing gear.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot/owner, the airplane sustained a loss of electrical power, and he decided to return to the airport. On the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot moved the landing gear lever to the down position but did not see the three green lights or hear the landing gear extend. He then called a maintenance facility located at the airport and asked them to verify if the landing gear was down while he performed a low pass over the runway. The maintenance personnel indicated that the gear was not down; the pilot attempted an emergency gear extension procedure. After another low pass, the maintenance personnel stated that the gear was extended, and the pilot landed the airplane. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane veered off the runway, impacting a runway light, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the battery had been removed, and, therefore, the reason for an electrical failure could not be determined. Examination and operation of the landing gear revealed no anomalies. The pilot owned the airplane for about 8 years prior to the accident and had accumulated 1,650 hours of flight time in the make and model; however, the pilot could not successfully perform or articulate the emergency gear extension procedure. The pilot was also unable to locate the emergency landing gear extension procedure in the pilot’s operating handbook.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.