Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Harris Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Coalinga, California 93210
Wednesday, March 1, 2000 16:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The landing gear collapsed during a precautionary landing following a complete electrical system failure. The airplane experienced a complete electrical failure during cruise. The pilot decided to make a precautionary landing and diverted to an alternate airport. He shut down all electrical items when he became aware of the electrical system failure. As he neared the alternate airport, he slowed the airplane down to the normal gear extension speed, lowered the gear with the automatic switch, and felt the landing gear extend. He stated that because there were no landing gear lights illuminated he could not verify that the landing gear was in the locked position. He then conducted the emergency gear extension checklist, and noted that his airspeed and power were consistent with what he associated with the landing gear being in the down position. Touchdown was normal, but on the landing rollout, the nose and left main landing gear collapsed and the left wing struck a taxi light. Prior to exiting the airplane, the pilot shutoff the master switch. During the recovery of the airplane, it was raised on jacks and the landing gear was extended with no discrepancies noted. During repair work on the airplane, a landing gear extension/retraction test was conducted, with no system anomalies noted. The inspection of the airplane was unable to determine the cause of the electrical failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the landing gear for undetermined reasons to go into the locked position after the pilot conducted a manual and emergency gear extension. A factor in the accident was the undetermined failure of the electrical system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/1/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | COALINGA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93210 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | HARRIS RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3O8 |
| 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 | 470 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 336 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 1 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1650 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8170S |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA112 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-301T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-8029067 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 28 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 44 |
| Airframe Hours | 2191 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHERN CENTRAL DISTRIBUTION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5561 WEST SAN MADELE |
| Aircraft Owner City | FRESNO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 93722 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SMX |
| Departure City | SANTA MARIA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | FRESNO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 12 2001 4:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 2820 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |