Spirit Of St Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Louis, Missouri 63005
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 14:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While landing at the destination airport, the pilot failed to lower the landing gear. The airplane settled on the runway centerline gear up, departed the right side of the runway, and came to rest in the grass. The pilot was able to egress the airplane without assistance. Damage was discovered to the airplane's left wing leading edge, belly, and fuselage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to ensure that the landing gear was placed in the down position prior to landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/20/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1445
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ST. LOUIS
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 63005
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383943n
Event Location Longitude 0903907w
Event Location Airport Spirit of St Louis Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SUS
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1449 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SUS
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 8500
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24487
NTSB Notification Source FAA Central ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2008 11:11AM
User who most recently changed record aguj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N618MA
NTSB Number DFW08CA219
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 PA46-500TP
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 4697218
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 8 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 212
Airframe Hours 531
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name DIFFERENTIAL LEASING LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 117 SALEM CHURCH RD
Aircraft Owner City NEWARK
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19713-2940
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name DIFFERENTIAL LEASING LLC
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 117 SALEM CHURCH RD
Operator City NEWARK
Operator State DE
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 19713-2940
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 16G
Departure City TIFFIN
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SUS
Destination City St. Louis
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 22 2008 11:41AM
User who most recently changed record aguj
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 26L
Runway Length 7485
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --