Beechcraft 95-B55 N258P

Summary

On 30 May 2003 at about 20:45 local time, a Beechcraft 95-B55 registered N258P, operated by Allen Kitchens, was involved in an accident near Forest, Mississippi, 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

30 May 2003 at 20:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Forest, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

G. V. Montgomery (2M4)

Coordinates

32.3533, -89.4886

Aircraft

Beechcraft 95-B55

Registration

N258P

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Allen Kitchens

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crystal Springs → Forest

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA03CA117

Nobody was injured.

the failure of the pilot-in-command to extend the landing gear, or use the checklist while on landing approach, resulting in a gear up landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot when he started turning base leg he began noticing that the plane was not slowing down like it should and he decided to lower to full flaps. This still "did not alert" him to the fact that the gear was not down. When he turned to final he increased the speed, to about 1OO knots all the way down to short final. He held 15 inches of manifold pressure up until the flair. At the time of flair he reduced the power to idle, and immediately the landing gear warning horn started sounding. He said his mind "was stuck on airspeed," he "immediately" thought it was the stall warning horn, and lowered the nose a little. He leveled the wings, held the airplane off the runway, and bled off airspeed. When the airplane finally touched down, about half way down the runway the "grinding" sound started, and he realized the landing gear was retracted. An inspection of the cockpit showed the landing gear handle in the "up position." The on scene investigation revealed that the airplane had slid on its belly for over 1,000 feet. The pilot, was at the scene and immediately reported to the FAA inspector, "...that he had forgot to put the landing gear down." He further stated he had a checklist but "did not use it." The airplane received substantial damage to the bottom fuselage; to the extent several ribs were ground completely through the thickness of the metal.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.