Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Culpeper Regional Airprot Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Culpeper, Virginia 22714
Thursday, October 6, 2011 11:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot/owner, the airplane sustained a loss of electrical power, and he decided to return to the airport. On the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot moved the landing gear lever to the down position but did not see the three green lights or hear the landing gear extend. He then called a maintenance facility located at the airport and asked them to verify if the landing gear was down while he performed a low pass over the runway. The maintenance personnel indicated that the gear was not down; the pilot attempted an emergency gear extension procedure. After another low pass, the maintenance personnel stated that the gear was extended, and the pilot landed the airplane. During the landing roll, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane veered off the runway, impacting a runway light, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing.
A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the battery had been removed, and, therefore, the reason for an electrical failure could not be determined. Examination and operation of the landing gear revealed no anomalies. The pilot owned the airplane for about 8 years prior to the accident and had accumulated 1,650 hours of flight time in the make and model; however, the pilot could not successfully perform or articulate the emergency gear extension procedure. The pilot was also unable to locate the emergency landing gear extension procedure in the pilot’s operating handbook.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate knowledge of the airplane's emergency gear extension procedures, which resulted in his failure to successfully perform a manual extension of the landing gear.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/6/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Culpeper |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22714 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383119N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0775120W |
| Event Location Airport | Culpeper Regional Airprot |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CJR |
| 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 | 316 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1055 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CJR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 316 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.42 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 061455Z AUTO 06003KT 10SM CLR 17/08 A3042 RMK |
| 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) | 29364 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2011 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9268C |
| NTSB Number | ERA12CA028 |
| 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 | PA-28R-201T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7803248 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2210 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BELL WILLIAM D |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CASANOVA |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20139-0283 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | BELL WILLIAM D |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | CASANOVA |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20139-0283 |
| 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 | CJR |
| Departure City | Culpeper |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1035 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CJR |
| Destination City | Culpeper |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2011 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 04 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |