Piper PA-24-260 N8729P

Summary

On 12 December 2023 at about 01:30 local time, a Piper PA-24-260 registered N8729P was involved in an accident near Anthony, Kansas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 December 2023 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Anthony, Kansas, United States

Nearest airport

Anthony Muni (ANY)

Coordinates

37.1599, -98.0795

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-260

Registration

N8729P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1965

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Akron → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN24LA060

1 person was seriously injured.

A failure of the airplane’s alternator, which resulted in a loss of electrical power, and the pilot’s failure to use the emergency gear extension procedure during the initial landing approach, which led to a gear-up landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the night flight, the airplane’s interior lighting dimmed and he used a flashlight to view the instrument panel. He selected the landing gear down and mistook the reflection from the flashlight as a gear down indication. When he was about to touch down, the propeller tips contacted the runway and the pilot applied power to go around. During the go-around, the pilot used the emergency gear extension procedure to lower the landing gear; however, the airplane was not able to maintain altitude and he executed a forced landing to a field. During the forced landing, the airplane struck power lines, impacted the field, and slid into large round hay bales that were in the field. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. Postaccident examination of the airplane determined that the alternator was not supplying any charge to the battery. The pilot noted that during the initial approach, he should have used the manual gear extension procedure to ensure that the landing gear was in the down position. The reduced performance of the engine/propeller combination after the propeller blades made runway contact likely led to the airplane’s inability to maintain altitude during the go-around.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.