ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 161754
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 28 October 2013 |
| Time: | 13:00 |
| Type: |  Lancair 235 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N25DM |
| MSN: | 36 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming Engines O-290G |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | McMinnville, OR -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | McMinnville, OR (MMV) |
| McMinnville, OR (MMV) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
While performing practice touch-and-go takeoffs and landings, the pilot made a radio transmission on the UNICOM frequency stating that he was having trouble with the landing gear position indicators; only two of the three landing gear lights were illuminated. The pilot asked a pilot who was in a helicopter hovering at the airport to look at the landing gear’s position while he performed a low-level pass over the runway.
The pilot maneuvered the airplane to about 20 to 40 ft above ground level (agl) as he passed over the runway, and the helicopter pilot told him that all of the landing gear appeared to be extended. The pilot stated that the observation was confusing because it conflicted with the landing gear lights, which indicated that the right gear was not in the down-and-locked position. The pilot then stated that he was going to gain some altitude and manually retract and extend the landing gear in an attempt to reset the lights. He departed from the traffic pattern to the northeast and made no further communications; shortly thereafter, several grunts were heard over the radio. Numerous witnesses reported that they observed the airplane flying about 300 ft agl and then enter a loop maneuver and subsequently descend toward a house in a steep nose-low attitude. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that the pilot was attempting to lower the landing gear by intentionally performing unusual maneuvers during which he inadvertently lost control of the airplane.
The pilot had poorly controlled diabetes, but the investigation was unable to determine if this degraded his ability to safely operate the airplane during the intentional maneuver and, therefore, whether his diabetes contributed to the accident.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control while intentionally performing maneuvers in an effort to troubleshoot a landing gear malfunction.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Media:
UPDATE: Small plane crashes into McMinnville house; pilot was only person on board, FAA says http://t.co/GTiFWPXxdD pic.twitter.com/5gmbmk1534
— FOX 12 Oregon KPTV (@fox12oregon) October 28, 2013
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Oct-2013 05:09 | harro | Added |
| 29-Oct-2013 16:26 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Embed code] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 29-Nov-2017 09:19 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation