Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gila Bend Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gila Bend, Arizona 85337
Tuesady, February 26, 2008 17:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to landing, the student and the certified flight instructor (CFI) had both confirmed that the landing gear down indicator lights were illuminated, and visually confirmed the nose gear was extended by use of an airframe mirror. The pilots indicated that after touchdown the right wing started to drop, and the CFI took the controls, but the airplane veered off of the runway. Before the pilots left the airplane, they both saw the landing gear activation switch in the retracted position. During the recovery of the airplane, the landing gear was extended, retracted, and then extended again. No damage to the landing gear locking mechanism was found. The safety officer of the flight academy interviewed the flight crew and the recovery personnel. After the interviews, it was determined that during the landing roll, one of the crewmembers inadvertently placed the landing gear selector in the "up" position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew's inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during the landing roll, and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/26/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1715 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Gila Bend |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85337 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325737N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1124025W |
| Event Location Airport | GILA BEND MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E63 |
| 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 | 789 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GBN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 858 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23585 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 26 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA FSDO Scottsdale |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N318PA |
| NTSB Number | LAX08CA067 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-44-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4496134 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3816 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 4244 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAN AM INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT ACADEMY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 70 Walnut Street, FL 4 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Phonix |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85027 |
| 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 | PN7S |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DVT |
| Departure City | PHOENIX |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Gila Bend |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4 |
| Runway Length | 5200 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |