Piper PA-24-260 N9267P

Summary

On 20 February 2023 at about 22:25 local time, a Piper PA-24-260 registered N9267P was involved in an accident near San Jose, 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 February 2023 at 22:25

Classification

Accident

Location

San Jose, California, United States

Nearest airport

Reid-Hillview of Santa Clara C (RHV)

Coordinates

37.3329, -121.8198

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-260

Registration

N9267P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Jose → Half Moon Bay

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR23LA116

Nobody was injured.

A landing gear collapse due to an inadequately maintained landing gear extension and retraction system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported the takeoff and flight were uneventful. During the landing approach, the landing gear did not extend. After performing a series of troubleshooting steps with no success, the pilot decided to return to his home airport and perform a manual gear extension. During the return flight, the manual gear system appeared to be jammed, so he continued to troubleshoot and performed a series of high-G maneuvers to help the gear extend. After multiple attempts the landing gear extended; however, the gear indication system did not show the gear was locked in the down position. The pilot continued with the landing, which was uneventful, until he retarded the throttle during the landing roll and the nose gear and main gear retracted. Postaccident examination revealed that the landing gear extension motor would intermittently seize, often without tripping its circuit breaker. Because the airplane was equipped with an emergency gear extension system, this event alone should not have been cause for concern, and the pilot followed the correct procedures to resolve the problem. However, the manual emergency gear extension system was also jammed because of significant wear to its release arm. Additionally, due to a worn and out of adjustment nose gear drag link assembly, even when the pilot was able to force the gear down with the manual system, it did not lock in place. Due to the design of the system, this out of adjustment condition was masked by the landing gear motor transmission, which under normal operation drove the drag links into the locked position. An airworthiness directive had been issued to resolve the gear collapse issue following manual extension, and this appeared to have been completed and was not due at the time of the accident. Even though it was not due, the wear observed to multiple landing gear components should have warranted further examination and repair by maintenance personnel during the annual inspection, which was completed one week before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.