Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cyril E King, St. Thomas, Vi Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 00802
Monday, December 15, 2003 16:54 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that, during landing flare, the airplane touched down on the landing gear then rose back up in the air briefly. The pilot stated he held the airplane in ground effect, and when it settled back toward the runway, the gear folded up as they touched the ground. Witnesses reported the gear was extended at touchdown. Examination revealed the left and right nose gear doors were attached to the airframe along the full length of their respective hinges. The right nose gear door displayed no scraping or damage. The left nose gear door displayed scrape marks on the vent fins, as well as one localized scrape mark on the inboard edge of the door. The localized scrape mark corresponded with the location of the nosewheel tire when in retracted position behind the door. There was no damage observed on the nose gear assembly. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed no damage to the gear door or the wheel hub cap. The radar pod beneath the airplane's right wing displayed scrape damage. Examination of the left main landing gear revealed no damage to the gear door, and the wheel hub cap was scraped around its entire center circumference. Functional testing of the landing gear system revealed no evidence of malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate inflight planning and failure to extend the landing gear, which resulted in a wheels-up landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1654 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | St. Thomas |
| Event State | VIRGIN ISLANDS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00802 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 182014N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0645824W |
| Event Location Airport | Cyril E King, St. Thomas, VI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSTT |
| 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 | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSTT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1650 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16227 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| 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 | San Juan FSDO - 21 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5345S |
| NTSB Number | ATL04IA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | New Piper Aircraft, Inc. |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4636328 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 176.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DePizzo Enterprises, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3550 Fair Oaks Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Longboat Key |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34228 |
| 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 | KSTT |
| Departure City | St. Thomas |
| Departure State | VI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KSTT |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 26 2004 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |