Aviation Crash Map

Dornier ALPHA-JET N707XA

17 June 2009 · Arlington, Washington, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 17 June 2009 at about 00:45 local time, a Dornier ALPHA-JET registered N707XA was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, 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.

The record

Date
at 00:45
Classification
Accident
Location
Arlington, Washington, United States
Nearest airport
Arlington (KAWO)
Coordinates
48.1608, -122.1589
Aircraft
Dornier ALPHA-JET
Registration
N707XA
Category
Airplane
Engines
2
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Positioning
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Seattle → Arlington
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
WPR09CA294

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to lower the landing gear prior to landing. Contributing to the accident were the distractions created by the pilot incorrectly setting a radio frequency and by his fixation on an airplane that was on the runway during his approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As he was preparing to land, the contract pilot, who was positioning the airplane at the destination airport for minor maintenance, inadvertently set one number incorrectly when he initially set in the common traffic advisory frequency. After transmitting his position/intent four times, and hearing no other aircraft on the radio (including one that he saw on the runway), he realized that his frequency was not set correctly. He therefore set in the correct frequency. About the time he was resetting the frequency, he lowered the flaps to full, but inadvertently forgot to lower the landing gear. As he continued on around the pattern, he became "preoccupied" with the aircraft that was on the runway, and did not notice that the gear was not extended. He subsequently landed with the gear retracted, resulting in substantial damage to the belly stringers and bulkheads. The pilot reported that there were no anomalies associated with any of the airplane's systems.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Dornier ALPHA accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
14 Jun 2018 Dornier ALPHA JET
N2165
Sacramento, California, United States Blue City Holding LLC No injuries -

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All 170,864 records in United States