Piper PA-39 N8975Y

Summary

On 17 July 1993 at about 02:45 local time, a Piper PA-39 registered N8975Y, operated by Proflight, Inc., was involved in an accident near Thermal, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 1993 at 02:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Thermal, California, United States

Nearest airport

Thermal (TRM)

Coordinates

33.4810, -116.1006

Aircraft

Piper PA-39

Registration

N8975Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Proflight, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palm Springs → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX93LA291

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadvertent movement of the landing gear selector switch to the up position. A factor in the accident was the difference in cockpit switch layout between the PA23 and PA39 aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was taking a multi engine class certification check ride. The pilot examiner stated that the applicant pilot had been flying a Piper PA23-160 for his multi engine training. The PA23 cockpit is set up with the landing gear selector handle on the right side of the power quadrant and the flap selector on the left. The PA23 was in the maintenance shop and the applicant was given the Piper PA39 for his flight test. The PA39 cockpit is set up with the landing gear selector handle on the left side of the power quadrant and the flap selector on the right. The examiner stated that during the traffic pattern he personally checked that the landing gear handle was in the DOWN position, with three green indicator lights. The aircraft made a normal landing. The examiner said that during the landing roll out his attention was distracted momentarily by locating the radio microphone. When he looked up again, the examiner saw the aircraft settling down on the runway with the landing gear selector handle in the UP position. According to the pilot's statement, he said that he was reaching for the flap handle to retract the landing flaps and mistakenly moved the gear handle instead.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.