Piper PA 31T-II N774MF

Summary

On 24 September 2014 at about 03:10 local time, a Piper PA 31T-II registered N774MF, operated by American Medflight Inc, was involved in an accident near Oakland, California, United States. 4 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 September 2014 at 03:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Oakland, California, United States

Nearest airport

Metropolitan Oakland Intl (OAK)

Coordinates

37.7214, -122.2211

Aircraft

Piper PA 31T-II

Registration

N774MF

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

2

Operator

American Medflight Inc

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Reno → Oakland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR14CA391

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear which resulted in a gear-up landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to use the checklist and reported stress.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach for the medical life-flight, he was struggling to keep the airplane on the localizer and glide path. As the airplane descended through 800 to 900 feet above the ground, he broke out of the cloud layer but had difficulty locating the runway in the dark night conditions. During the landing flare he reduced the throttle and as the airplane touched down on the runway surface, he realized the landing gear were retracted; he did not hear any horns. The pilot recalled that when he selected the landing gear, he may have put the handle in neutral rather than keeping his hand on the lever and waiting for the three green lights to illuminate confirming the extended position. He did not follow his normal checklists because of the demands of the ILS approach. He also cited a few stressors in his life that may have contributed to a distraction including a change of airplanes and few ILS approaches performed in the recent six months. The pilot further added that there were no pre impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the lower fuselage and engine mounts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.