Piper PA-30 N7504Y

Summary

On 22 July 2009 at about 21:00 local time, a Piper PA-30 registered N7504Y, operated by Walla Walla University, was involved in an accident near Walla Walla, Washington, 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

22 July 2009 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Walla Walla, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Walla Walla Regional (ALW)

Coordinates

46.0947, -118.2889

Aircraft

Piper PA-30

Registration

N7504Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Walla Walla University

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Walla Walla → Walla Walla

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09LA372

Nobody was injured.

A tripped landing gear motor circuit breaker, which prevented the gear from fully locking in the down position, and subsequent collapse during landing. Contributing to the accident was the disabled landing gear warning horn.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he stayed in the airport traffic pattern, and completed one takeoff and landing. Prior to the second landing, the landing gear was down, all indications appeared normal, and he did not hear an audible alert when he reduced power for landing. As the airplane touched down, the landing gear collapsed, which resulted in substantial damage to the wing. The pilot stated that he noticed smoke coming from the circuit breaker panel on the floor as he exited the airplane. The operator reported that they had previously been having trouble with the landing gear circuit breaker popping during gear extension and retraction. Six flight hours prior to the accident, they had replaced numerous landing gear system components including the landing gear motor circuit breaker. Ground and flight tests had been successfully completed without a recurrence, which led them to believe that the situation had been resolved. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that the landing gear motor circuit breaker had tripped, which prevented the landing gear from fully locking in the down position. The landing gear warning circuit is powered by the landing gear motor circuit, and would not activate with the circuit breaker tripped.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.