Albuquerque International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106
Wednesday, August 18, 1999 8:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on a positioning flight from one local airport to another, the aircraft developed an electrical discrepancy and the pilot elected to shut down the electrical system via the master switch. During the subsequent precautionary landing, the electrically actuated hydraulically operated landing gear remained up despite the pilot's activation of the landing gear switch to the gear down position. The aircraft slid to a stop following the gear up landing and was destroyed by post landing fire. The pilot exited the aircraft and was not injured.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow published procedures in operating the aircraft. A factor was partial failure of the electrical system.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/1999
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 800
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City ALBUQUERQUE
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87106
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ALBUQUERQUE INTERNATIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ABQ
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5352
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 821 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID ABQ
Elevation of weather observation facility 5352
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 6700
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Unknown
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 417
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 18 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1010
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:49AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4148B
NTSB Number DEN99LA151
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bellanca
Aircraft Model 17-30A
Aircraft Series Identifier 17-30A
Aircraft Serial Number 75-30751
Certified Max Gross Weight 3300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 26 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 2243
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CHARLES F. CHAMPLIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. BOX 832
Aircraft Owner City CEDAR CREST
Aircraft Owner State NM
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 87008
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 4AC
Departure City
Departure State NM
Departure Country
Departure Time 745
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code ABQ
Destination City
Destination State NM
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 13775
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --