Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Opa Locka Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Opa-Locka, Florida 33054
Sunday, November 6, 2005 16:13 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During climbout after takeoff while flying at an airspeed greater than 80 mph, the certified flight instructor (CFI) and pilot rated student reported that the landing gear would not retract. The CFI checked the cockpit trying to troubleshoot the problem and after looking outside, realized the airplane was very low. The airplane impacted grass on the north side of the runway causing the left main landing gear to separate and the nose and right main landing gears to collapse. The airplane came to rest upright and a small postcrash fire damaged the rear portion of the engine. Examination of the airplane following recovery revealed the landing gear selector handle was in the up position, and only the landing light circuit breaker was tripped/popped. Testing of the diaphragm of the landing gear auto extend system revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. When electrical power was applied to the airplane and the landing gear selector handle was placed in the down position, components of the landing gears moved towards the down position. The airplane "Owner's Handbook" indicates the pressure sensing device in the landing gear system prevents "...the gear from retracting at airspeeds below approximately 85 mph with full power, though the selector switch may be in the up position. This speed increases with reduced power and/or increased altitude." The handbook also indicates, "Manual override of the device is provided by an emergency gear lever located between the front seats to the left of the flap handle. The emergency gear lever, when held in the raised position, can be used to override the system, and gear position is controlled by the selector switch regardless of airspeed/power combinations."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot-in-command/CFI to maintain control of the airplane and his inattentiveness to the altitude while troubleshooting the landing gear system resulting in the in-flight collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1613 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Opa-Locka |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33054 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 255425N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801642W |
| Event Location Airport | Opa Locka |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KOPF |
| 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 | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1613 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOPF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20656 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 6 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4652J |
| NTSB Number | MIA06LA015 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-30546 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 88.97 |
| Airframe Hours | 5588.67 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Palmetto Sales and Leasing |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4141 N.W. 145th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Opa-Locka |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33054 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KOPF |
| Departure City | Opa-Locka |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1613 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 31 2006 1:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9L |
| Runway Length | 8002 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |