Piper PA-34-200 N33300

Summary

On 9 January 2024 at about 17:15 local time, a Piper PA-34-200 registered N33300, operated by Upgrade Incorporated, was involved in an accident near Groton, Connecticut, 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

9 January 2024 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Groton, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Groton-New London (GON)

Coordinates

41.3301, -72.0451

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200

Registration

N33300

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

2

Operator

Upgrade Incorporated

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Groton → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA089

Nobody was injured.

The pilot receiving instruction’s failure to extend the landing gear prior to landing. Also contributing, was the flight instructor’s failure to monitor the airplane’s configuration while on approach to land.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On the downwind leg of the traffic pattern the pilot receiving instruction and the flight instructor were having a conversation about when to extend the landing gear, as the pilot receiving instruction was new to this airplane. During this discussion the pilots were contacted by air traffic control (ATC) and a conversation took place about a possible change of runway. After the exchange with ATC the pilots did not return to their conversation about when to extend the landing gear. After being cleared to land, the pilot receiving instruction performed a normal approach to landing. The pilots reported that they realized they had forgotten to extend the landing gear when they heard the airplane contact the runway. The airplane skidded down the asphalt, resulting in substantial damage to the external longerons of the fuselage. The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane was equipped with a landing gear position warning horn that was designed to sound when either of the throttles were pulled back for landing. Neither pilot specifically remembered hearing the warning horn during the accident landing. After the airplane was recovered, the landing gear warning horn was tested and was found to operate normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.