Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Laudedale, Florida 33301
Saturday, March 23, 2002 18:02 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, due to radio traffic congestion at his landing airport, he missed the tower's call for his landing clearance, and his attempts to confirm his clearance were continually blocked. He completed all items on his before landing checklist except the landing gear, and by the time he got confirmation to land, he was on short final approach, and he forgot to lower the landing gear. Postcrash examination of the wheels up warning circuit revealed an operable warning horn.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to assure all items of the before landing checklist were complied with before landing, resulting in the wheels up landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 3/23/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1802
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Fort Laudedale
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33301
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 260422N
Event Location Longitude 0800910W
Event Location Airport Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID KFLL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 10
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1809 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID FLL
Elevation of weather observation facility 11
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 30000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12198
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC-Atlanta
NTSB Notification Date Mar 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1905
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2002 10:10AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Ft. Lauderdale

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N49RB
NTSB Number MIA02IA072
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-31-325
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 31-7512031
Certified Max Gross Weight 6700
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jan 9 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 14.9
Airframe Hours 7373.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Robin V. Gamber
Aircraft Owner Street Address RR 13 Box 279
Aircraft Owner City Hendersonville
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 28739
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Twin Air
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1100 Lee Waggoner Blvd.
Operator City Ft. Lauderdale
Operator State FL
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 33315
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 No
Departure Airport Code MYAM
Departure City Marsh Harbor
Departure State CB
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1703
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code KFLL
Destination City Ft. Lauderdale
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 2 2002 2:01PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 09R
Runway Length 5276
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --