Jackson County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jackson, Michigan 49202
Sunday, December 15, 2002 10:59 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot performed a gear-up landing on a grass area adjacent to a runway following a loss of electrical power immediately after takeoff. The pilot stated that after the loss of electrical power, he was unable to extend the landing gear. The pilot then performed a manual landing gear extension, which resulted in a partial extension. He stated that he did the prescribed crank down procedure by pumping the landing gear handle about 50 times. The airplane's manual gear extension procedure requires rotating a gear extension handle; there is no pumping involved. Inspection of the wreckage revealed that both generator switches were in the "off" position, which according to the pretakeoff checklist are to be in the "on" position. No anomalies were noted with the airplane's electrical system. Inspection of the airplane revealed that there was no written checklist and no emergency landing gear extension handle aboard the airplane. The pilot stated that he used the handle to prop the door open for the gear-up landing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow the checklist and extend the landing gear resulting in a gear up landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/15/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1059
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Jackson
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49202
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 421535N
Event Location Longitude 0242733W
Event Location Airport Jackson County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JXN
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 1001
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1059 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID JXN
Elevation of weather observation facility 1017
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
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 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14781
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 15 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1038
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2004 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Detroit FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N948SB
NTSB Number CHI03LA039
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-30
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 30-1817
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 0.47
Airframe Hours 4295.27
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Advantage Aviation Enterprises LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO Box 68
Aircraft Owner City Jackson
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49204
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code JXN
Departure City JACKSON
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 955
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code JXN
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 10 2003 10:25AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 5200
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --