Piper PA24 N8648P

Summary

On 20 September 2012 at about 21:15 local time, a Piper PA24 registered N8648P, operated by Chester Dee McCarter, was involved in an accident near Madera, California, 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

20 September 2012 at 21:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Madera, California, United States

Nearest airport

Madera Municipal (MAE)

Coordinates

37.9886, -120.1125

Aircraft

Piper PA24

Registration

N8648P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Chester Dee McCarter

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno → Madera

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA435

Nobody was injured.

The student's and flight instructor’s failure to ensure that the landing gear was extended prior to landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The accident occurred during an instructional flight while practicing landings. The flight instructor reported that he became distracted while teaching his student and forgot to ensure that the landing gear was extended before landing. He stated that the landing gear warning horn came on just before the airplane landed gear up, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage structure. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.