Grand Canyon National Park Air Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
Saturday, April 26, 2003 12:25 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot inadvertently raised the landing gear lever during taxi. The pilot reported that while taxiing after a good approach and landing, he raised the flaps, lowered the speed brakes, turned off the landing lights, and switched off the transponder. After the lever was raised, both the nose and right main landing gear collapsed immediately. The airplane came to rest on the left main gear, nose, and right wing. The systems description section of the Federal Aviation Administration approved Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane was reviewed concerning the landing gear operating system. The cockpit control lever is mechanically linked to the hydraulic sequence valve, which is aft of the rear baggage compartment. A spring loaded electrically operated solenoid gate physically prevents the landing gear handle from being moved out of the down detent when weight is on the landing gear. The solenoid is energized to retract and allow the cockpit gear handle to move when a squat switch on the left main gear strut senses strut extension (liftoff). After the accident, and during repair of the airplane, the landing gear system was examined by Hov-Air, Inc., a maintenance repair facility familiar with the PA-46. The repair shop found that the cockpit gear handle and its linkage (to the hydraulic sequence valve) was out of rigging tolerance. Specifically, the rigging would not allow the gear selector lever handle to be in the full down position where the solenoid gate would block handle movement.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The out of rig condition of the landing gear control linkages, which prevented the on-ground antiretraction safety device from working. Also causal was the pilot's inadvertent movement of the gear selector to the up position while taxiing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/26/2003
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1225
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Grand Canyon
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86023
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 355708N
Event Location Longitude 1120849W
Event Location Airport Grand Canyon National Park Air
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GCN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 6606
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1254 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID GCN
Elevation of weather observation facility 6606
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 21
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 29
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.96
Density Altitude (feet) 8480
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16370
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 13 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1026
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 29 2004 1:02PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N189ET
NTSB Number LAX03LA196
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-46-310P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 46-8408026
Certified Max Gross Weight 4300
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 Mar 31 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 34
Airframe Hours 3000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Cartwright Aerial Survey Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5979 Freeport Blvd
Aircraft Owner City Sacramento
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95822
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name James Allen
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 No
Departure Airport Code MYF
Departure City San Diego
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code GCN
Destination City Grand Canyon
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - from landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 12 2004 5:21PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 8999
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --