According to both the flight instructor and the pilot undergoing instruction, during the landing rollout at the airport in Phoenix, the pilot undergoing instruction inadvertently retracted the landing gear.
The landing gear handle was immediately selected to down, however they felt the Piper PA-28R-201 sink to the left.
The airplane sustained structural damage to the left wing, stabilator, and empennage.
Both pilots reported no mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable cause: The pilot under instruction’s inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during the landing rollout.
NTSB Identification: WPR15CA115
This February 2015 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Squat switch should have saved the day and should have been tested at the last annual.
The plane might have had enough lift still to not make contact with the squat switch yet and any landing flaps would contribute to that. It really depends oh how much deflection the switch was set to before it would disable the retraction and an experience PA-28R mechanic reading this might be able to provide a comment there. Bottom line is only an idiot counts on a squat switch to keep the gear down, that is more of a safety backup for idiots.
Oh and pity the pilot who wants to make a daring takeoff by setting the gear switch up so as soon as the wing is flying the gear will come up, one good bump and it is bye, bye prop. Don’t laugh, I know of some drug runners that tried that trick when they found the police landing right after them and that little bump in the runway put an end to their escape.
When I transitioned to Complex Aircraft my instructor emphasized that there is nothing so important that you need to deal with it while you are on the runway, even turning the xponder to Stby or turning off strobes. His rule was you wait until you have cleared the active runway and stopped then you pull out the after landing checklist and do what it says, no random grabbing for things, and he allowed no exception to that rule. The cleaning up of the aircraft on the rollout (retract flaps, etc..) is what leads to these sort of accidents. I had the advantage of getting instruction in a very structured environment at an excellent flight school with a lot of military pilots as CFI’s but even the average CFI should understand the importance of such a rule and beat it into a transitioning pilot.
Older Beech Bonanza/Baron aircraft had the gear and flaps on different sides of the throttle section then other makes of aircraft so pilots transitioning to/from had a lot of trouble in this area and the need to stop and think was all the more critical in that situation. Never touch any controls but the brakes and throttles while on the runway and you can avoid doing something stupid !!!
Sarah A, your right about the Beech Bonanza/Debonair/Dukes/Barons and KingAir’s too. I owned an old G35 and I came close to moving the wrong lever, but felt the shape of the wheel instead of the flap handle, then looked at it. It stopped me cold.
And just to keep it interesting Beech later decided that doing it the same way as all the others was better so newer models have gear on the left and flaps on the right. They did they same thing with the engine power controls but now they have standardized again. The only problem would be a school or company with a mix that has the old and new. Still the best practice is to grab the control, take a breath while you take note of what it feels like and if you are still sure it is what you want to move then go ahead. There is never any urgency to moving those controls on the ground so don’t rush yourself.
Begs the question: How do you inadvertently retract the landing gear without consciously being aware of….well you know, that round wheel shaped knob on the end of the handle and the need to pull out on the lever to get it to release to the up position? What was called for during the landing roll out that would lead anyone regardless of their level of experience to reach for, grasp and raise the landing gear handle? Accidentally bumping it won’t do it. Some people are a hazard to themselves and everyone else when in the cockpit of an airplane with access to its various controls.
When a person flies Cessna’s, Pipers and maybe a Commander or two, you get accustomed to the location of the levers one side of the console or the other. Walter and Olive Ann decided to be different when the certified theirs.
Then when getting checked out in new equipment or strange equipment you should go back to the ole student pilot days and call out the lever before moving it.
This is why retractables make no sense and those who have planes with them get punished with higher insurance rates.
Experienced Pilots or not punished for retractable gear my annual policy with a million dollars liability is $351 a year for a Cessna 182rg
Where in the hell do you buy that?? Mine is $2,408 a year for $2 million liability. That is for two of us, I’m 77 years old and we have an ’05 182T which may be the difference.