Piper PA-44-180 N580ND

Summary

On 15 July 2012 at about 04:20 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N580ND, operated by University of North Dakota, was involved in an accident near Grand Forks, North Dakota, 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

15 July 2012 at 04:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Forks International (KGFK)

Coordinates

47.9472, -97.1739

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N580ND

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

University of North Dakota

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Forks → Grand Forks

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN12LA444

Nobody was injured.

The pilot receiving instruction's failure to extend the landing gear and the flight instructor's failure to adequately monitor his student's actions during the approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot receiving instruction reported that during the downwind leg, after the flight instructor had simulated a single-engine failure of the twin-engine airplane, he began to fall behind on completing required checklist items, and, as result, he inadvertently forgot to extend the landing gear. He recalled hearing the landing gear warning horn while on the crosswind leg but reportedly was too distracted with flying the airplane to extend the landing gear at that point. He reported seeing sparks and hearing a grinding noise upon touchdown, at which time he also recalled hearing the landing gear warning horn. The flight instructor recalled that the airplane tail impacted the runway shortly after the pilot receiving instruction reduced engine power during the landing flare. The flight instructor noted that he heard the landing gear warning horn shortly after the airplane made contact with the runway. The airplane slid 200 to 300 feet on the lower fuselage before coming to a stop. A postaccident examination revealed that the landing gear selector handle was in the "UP" position. The landing gear extended normally into a down-and-locked position after the airplane was lifted off the ground and the landing gear selector handle was placed into the "DOWN" position. The operator reported that there were no mechanical anomalies that would have prevented the landing gear from extending normally.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.