Piper PA-44-180 N935ER

Summary

On 15 July 2025 at about 21:30 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N935ER, operated by Ozarka College, was involved in an accident near Melbourne, Arkansas, 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

15 July 2025 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Melbourne, Arkansas, United States

Nearest airport

Melbourne Muni/John E Miller F (42A)

Coordinates

36.0749, -91.8307

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N935ER

Category

Airplane

Year built

2005

Engines

2

Operator

Ozarka College

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN25LA253

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew’s failure to use the airplane pre-landing checklist and failure to extend the airplane’s landing gear before landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and the student were conducting a simulated single engine approach to landing when the accident occurred. During the landing approach, the flight instructor was monitoring other aircraft traffic in the area, and the student asked the instructor a question, which distracted the instructor from performing his normal prelanding checks and verifying that the airplane’s retractable landing gear was extended. As the approach continued, neither the student nor flight instructor noticed that the landing gear was not extended. The airplane landed with the landing gear in the retracted position. The airplane received substantial damage to the structural external longerons on the bottom of the fuselage. As a result of the accident, the flight school implemented additional training for instructors and students regarding checklist usage and additional crew procedures have been implemented to verify landing gear extension prior to landing. Additionally, the review of the accident will be included in future safety meetings.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.