Socata TBM 700 N70LR

Summary

On 23 December 2008 at about 00:45 local time, a Socata TBM 700 registered N70LR, operated by Caterer's Leasing, was involved in an accident near Clovis, New Mexico, United States. 4 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

23 December 2008 at 00:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Clovis, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Clovis Municipal Airport (CVN)

Coordinates

34.4217, -103.0742

Aircraft

Socata TBM 700

Registration

N70LR

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Caterer's Leasing

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clayton → Clovis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN09CA118

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to complete the before-landing checklist, which led to his failure to lower the gear before landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was approaching the non-towered airport from the north, making a straight-in approach to runway 22, and was using the autopilot while still nine miles out. There was a 15-knot headwind and the airplane was still fast and a little high when 4.2 miles out, but the pilot reduced the power to zero percent and he "reserved" lowering the gear because he was still at 185 knots. The pilot said "the approach felt normal, the next thing I knew we were sliding down the runway". The airplane slid to a stop on the right side of the runway with the landing gear still retracted. There were no injuries to the four persons on board, but substantial damage to the left rear spar and center spar carrythrough and aft fuselage structure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.