• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
General Aviation News

General Aviation News

Because flying is cool

  • Pictures of the Day
    • Submit Picture of the Day
  • Stories
    • News
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Products
    • NTSB Accidents
    • ASRS Reports
  • Comments
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ad
  • Events
  • Digital Archives
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Piper bent after pilot forgets to extend landing gear

By NTSB · December 17, 2018 ·

The pilot reported that, en route on an instrument flight rules flight plan in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), the Piper PA-28R began accumulating ice. He requested a “precautionary diversion” to the nearest airport to land.

He exited IMC at 1,642′ above ground level and circled over the diversion airport in Kewanee, Illinois, for landing.

He kept the flaps and landing gear retracted “to not adversely affect lift” and forgot to extend the landing gear before landing.

However, when the airplane was over the runway threshold he reduced power, which caused the auto-extend function of the landing gear system to attempt to extend the landing gear.

During the landing roll, the right main and nose landing gear collapsed. The airplane gradually slid off the runway to the right, sustaining substantial damage to the right wing.

In the Procedures section of the Piper Arrow II Pilot’s Operating Manual, it states in part: Some aircraft are equipped with an airspeed-power sensing system (backup gear extender) which extends the landing gear under low airspeed-power conditions even though the pilot may not have selected gear down. For normal operation, the pilot should extend and retract the gear with the gear selector switch located on the instrument panel, just as he would if the backup gear extender system were not installed.

The manual also states: The red gear warning light on the instrument panel and the horn operate simultaneously when: On aircraft equipped with the backup gear extender, when the system has lowered the landing gear and the gear selector switch is not in the down position and the throttle is not full open.

Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear during the approach to land.

NTSB Identification: GAA17CA109

This December 2016 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.

About NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation, including railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. It determines the probable causes of accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.

Reader Interactions

Share this story

  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit Share on Reddit
  • Share via Email Share via Email

Become better informed pilot.

Join 110,000 readers each month and get the latest news and entertainment from the world of general aviation direct to your inbox, daily.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Curious to know what fellow pilots think on random stories on the General Aviation News website? Click on our Recent Comments page to find out. Read our Comment Policy here.

Comments

  1. Plane Spotter says

    December 18, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    Forgot.FORGOT!! LOL You can’t forget to deploy the gear.

  2. Dave says

    December 18, 2018 at 10:26 am

    Seems the aircraft is the brighter of this duo.

© 2025 Flyer Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Photographer’s Guidelines