Beechcraft A35 N691B

Summary

On 11 February 2024 at about 17:30 local time, a Beechcraft A35 registered N691B was involved in an accident near Maricopa, Arizona, United States. 3 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

11 February 2024 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Maricopa, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Ak-Chin Rgnl (A39)

Coordinates

32.9918, -111.9175

Aircraft

Beechcraft A35

Registration

N691B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1949

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chandler → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA086

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to properly configure the landing gear and verify its position before landing, which resulted in 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 stated that she put the landing gear switch in the down position when the airplane was midfield on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and lowered the flaps on the base turn. The pilot also stated that she did not look at the gear position indicator before landing. Security video captured the airplane on short final, and the landing gear appeared to be in the retracted position. The airplane subsequently landed gear-up, substantially damaging the fuselage. Following the accident, the landing gear switch was found in the down position, and the main landing gear doors were partially extended, with the inboard edges of the doors contacting the ground. Postaccident examination revealed no damage to the left main landing gear door, scraping damage to the extended ridge on the right main landing gear door, and scraping damage to the aft and outboard edges of the nose gear doors. The observed damage was consistent with all the landing gear being fully retracted upon landing. An operational check of the landing gear system revealed no anomalies. The accident is consistent with the pilot’s failure to configure the landing gear and to verify its position before landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.