South Lake Tahoe Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake Tahoe, California 96150
Saturday, October 20, 2012 17:10 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that he aborted a landing due to traffic on the active runway and retracted the landing gear. He stated that on the second approach to land he carried extra power because of the gusty wind conditions, but during the landing flare, he realized that he had failed to extend the landing gear. After he realized that the landing gear was not extended, the pilot added full power; however, the airplane impacted the runway with the landing gear in the retracted position. The pilot stated that he did not follow the checklist and that he did not hear the landing gear warning horn during his approach. When informed that the throttle position to activate the landing gear warning horn was only about 1/2 inch forward of the full aft idle position, the pilot indicated that he had not retarded the throttle that far. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its undercarriage as a result of the abnormal runway contact.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to ensure that the landing gear was extended before landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/20/2012
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1710
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Lake Tahoe
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96150
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 385338N
Event Location Longitude 1195943W
Event Location Airport South Lake Tahoe
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TVL
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 6269
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID TVL
Elevation of weather observation facility 6269
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 14
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.92
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) 30740
NTSB Notification Source 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 Nov 16 2012 1:47PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7950P
NTSB Number WPR13CA021
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR/IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name PIPER
Aircraft Model PA24
Aircraft Series Identifier 250
Aircraft Serial Number 24-3187
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 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 6172
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Richard L Dombrow
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Monarch Beach
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92629
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Scott Dineen
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Laguna Beach
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 92651
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 FUL
Departure City Fullerton
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1420
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TVL
Destination City Lake Tahoe
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 16 2012 1:47PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 8541
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --