Piper PA24 N7893P

Summary

On 29 July 2018 at about 20:45 local time, a Piper PA24 registered N7893P was involved in an accident near Evanston, Wyoming, 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.

Date

29 July 2018 at 20:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Evanston, Wyoming, United States

Nearest airport

Evanston-Uinta County Burns Fi (EVW)

Coordinates

41.2747, -111.0347

Aircraft

Piper PA24

Registration

N7893P

Category

Airplane

Year built

1962

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rawlins → Compton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA18CA462

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear during landing. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's distraction and his failure to complete the appropriate checklist before landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot in the retractable landing gear-equipped airplane reported that, during the cross-country flight, the autopilot failed, and he struggled to use the sectional charts. He added that heat and wind made the flight uncomfortable, and smoke from wildland fires decreased visibility to about 5 statute miles, so he decided to land. He completed some of the GUMPS (gas [proper tank selected], undercarriage [gear down], mixture [full mix for landing], and propeller [high rpm setting]) checklist and decided not to extend the landing gear to have better control. Upon arrival at the airport, he decided to leave the landing gear retracted as he searched for the windsock on the airport, but he could not find it. Subsequently, he attempted to contact the airport on the Unicom frequency, but he later determined that he had used an incorrect frequency. He decided to land on runway 5, which he later identified was the incorrect runway given the wind direction. He forgot to extend the landing gear before landing.   The airplane sustained substantial damage to the longerons and bulkheads. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.    

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.