Bellanca 14 19 N8851R

Summary

On 29 September 2024 at about 22:15 local time, a Bellanca 14 19 registered N8851R was involved in an accident near Cortez, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 September 2024 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Cortez, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Cortez Municipal (CEZ)

Coordinates

37.3044, -108.6267

Aircraft

Bellanca 14 19

Registration

N8851R

Category

Airplane

Year built

1960

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Durango → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA375

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear before 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 a straight in landing he forgot to perform his before landing checklist because he had not flown the standard traffic pattern. The airplane contacted the runway surface with the landing gear in the retracted position and came to rest on the runway. The pilot reported that he saw smoke and exited the airplane before a post-crash fire ensued which destroyed the airplane. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.