Blythe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Blythe, California 92225
Friday, March 11, 2005 17:20 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot failed to lower the landing gear prior to touching down on the runway. The pilot said that during the approach into the airport, the flaps would not lock into the 20-degree extended position. The pilot decided to execute a no-flap landing and referred to the emergency checklist. The checklist advised the pilot to extend the landing gear; however, the pilot skimmed over the information thinking that the gear was already down and locked, and focused on the stabilized approach into the airport. The airplane touched down with the gear in the retracted position. No mechanical malfunctions were noted with the landing gear system on the airplane and a ground test run of the flaps did not reproduce the failure encountered during flight.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to lower the landing gear prior to landing. A factor to the accident was the pilot's diverted attention due to the flap system anomaly.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/11/2005
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1720
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Blythe
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92225
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 333708N
Event Location Longitude 1144301W
Event Location Airport Blythe
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BLH
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 397
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 100
Weather Observation Facility ID PSP
Elevation of weather observation facility 477
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 70
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 26
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.76
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 4
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19232
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Mar 11 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2006 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N333WF
NTSB Number LAX05LA178
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mitsubishi
Aircraft Model MU-2B-26A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 387SA
Certified Max Gross Weight 10470
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Solitaire Investments
Aircraft Owner Street Address 702 W Calle De Oro
Aircraft Owner City Calexico
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92231
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Jaax Flying Service, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 807 W. 2ND ST.
Operator City Calexico
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92231
Operator Code DKKA
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BNG
Departure City Banning
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1645
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BLH
Destination City Blythe
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 1 2005 6:38PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 8
Runway Length 6562
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --