Piper PA-24-180 N6068P

Summary

On 13 December 2002 at about 21:30 local time, a Piper PA-24-180 registered N6068P was involved in an accident near Odessa, Texas, United States. One person was 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

13 December 2002 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Odessa, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Odessa-Schlemeyer (ODO)

Coordinates

28.6899, -97.2093

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-180

Registration

N6068P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Odessa → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW03LA063

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadvertent failure to extended the landing gear.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight returned to the airport from the local area and entered left downwind for the runway. During the landing/flare, the pilot realized that he did not have the landing gear down. The airplane came in contact with the runway, skidded 1,000-1,200 feet, then exited the runway into grass, weeds, and soft dirt before coming to rest. The airplane was lifted, the landing gear manually extended, and the airplane towed to the hangar. The lower forward cockpit structures and the firewall were damaged. The 893-hour private pilot had accumulated 282-hours in the same make and model retractable gear airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.