Piper PA-39 N289WW

Summary

On 29 October 2023 at about 15:56 local time, a Piper PA-39 registered N289WW was involved in an accident near Highgate, Vermont, 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

29 October 2023 at 15:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Highgate, Vermont, United States

Nearest airport

Franklin County State (FSO)

Coordinates

44.9403, -73.0975

Aircraft

Piper PA-39

Registration

N289WW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Highgate → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA046

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during landing rollout, which resulted in a landing gear collapse.

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 landing rollout on a 3,001-ft-long, asphalt runway, he intended to retract the flaps, but instead he retracted the landing gear. The result was that all three of the landing gear assemblies retracted into their respective wheel wells during the landing roll. The lower fuselage stringers were substantially damaged. The pilot added that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. The airplane was equipped with a squat switch on the left main landing gear that was designed to prevent the landing gear from inadvertently retracting; however, the switch required that sufficient weight be on the landing gear in order to work effectively. The pilot stated, and a video of the landing confirmed, that the airplane was still moving at relatively high speed when he selected the landing gear handle to the retracted position. The pilot reported that the squat switch was tested at the last annual inspection and that it operated normally during the inspection. Based on this information, it is likely that the airplane’s wings were still generating lift when the landing gear handle was selected to the retracted position and the gear struts was not compressed enough to activate the squat switch.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.