Piper PA30 N8747Y

Summary

On 24 November 2012 at about 15:00 local time, a Piper PA30 registered N8747Y was involved in an accident near Phoenix, Arizona, 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

24 November 2012 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Phoenix Deer Valley (DVT)

Coordinates

33.6883, -112.0825

Aircraft

Piper PA30

Registration

N8747Y

Category

Airplane

Year built

1969

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Phoenix

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA060

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to properly inhibit the landing gear transmission motor consistent with the emergency landing gear extension procedure, which precluded the full extension of the landing gear. Contributing to the accident was the airplane's electrical system anomaly, which rendered the gear position indicator inoperative.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had not flown the airplane in over 3 months. He started the right engine on external power, unplugged the external power, and then started the left engine off of the airplane's electrical system, with the ammeter showing a normal charge rate. Immediately after takeoff and while the landing gear was being retracted, the airplane experienced a total electrical failure; all attempts to restore electrical power were unsuccessful. The pilot then performed the emergency landing gear extension procedure, which he said included pulling the landing gear transmission motor release lever and pushing the lever full forward. The pilot subsequently placed the emergency gear extension handle in the left socket because it was in the vertical position, which should have indicated to the pilot that the landing gear had not completely retracted and that the landing gear transmission motor's force was not disengaged. He then most likely secured the handle and rotated it forward to complete the gear extension; however, due to the electrical failure, he had no way of confirming that the landing gear was locked down. After relaying his situation to the departure airport's air traffic control tower, the pilot was cleared to land. Upon landing, the airplane's nose gear slowly collapsed, and then both main landing gear collapsed. The airplane subsequently slid off of the right side of the runway and came to rest in a rock-covered area, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. Although the electrical system could have been compromised due to the electrical load required during the landing gear retraction because of insufficient battery power, it could not be determined if this caused the electrical system anomaly. During the emergency landing gear extension procedure, the forward rotation of the landing gear handle in the left socket likely prevented it from reaching its full-forward travel to lock the gear down because the pilot likely failed to fully disengage the landing gear transmission motor's forces from the system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.