Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Four Corners Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Farmington, New Mexico 87401
Sunday, September 12, 2010 12:04 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was landing after completing a practice instrument landing system approach in bright day conditions. The pilot reported that he extended the landing gear and flaps when he was about three miles from the airport. The airplane crossed the threshold of the runway and was just about to touch down when the pilot noticed that the landing gear green indicator lights appeared not to be illuminated. The pilot applied full throttle and immediately raised the landing gear and flaps. During the go-around attempt the airplane settled and the propeller struck the runway. The pilot held full power and a nose-high attitude as the airspeed decreased. The airplane struck obstructions on the side of the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. It then came to rest upright approximately halfway down the length of the runway. An inspection of the aircraft systems by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the cockpit lighting dimmer switch, which controlled the illumination intensity of the landing gear lights, was set to the “Night Dim” position.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s premature retraction of the landing gear and the flaps during landing. Contributing to the accident was the inadvertent dimming of the cockpit lighting, resulting in a perceived unsafe gear configuration.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1204 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Farmington |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87401 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364417N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1081328W |
| Event Location Airport | Four Corners Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FMN |
| 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 | 5506 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1202 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFMN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5506 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.3 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27773 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2011 8:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24WW |
| NTSB Number | CEN10CA533 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA46-310P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46-8508071 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| 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 | Apr 25 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4713 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVIONTA LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 5220 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87499-5220 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AVIONTA LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 5220 |
| Operator City | FARMINGTON |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87499-5220 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 00C |
| Departure City | Durango |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Farmington |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 3 2011 4:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 6704 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |