Piper PA23 N269KW

Summary

On 12 September 2019 at about 06:25 local time, a Piper PA23 registered N269KW, operated by Executive Airshares Llc, was involved in an accident near Charlotte Amalie, 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

12 September 2019 at 06:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Charlotte Amalie, United States

Nearest airport

Cyril E King (TIST)

Coordinates

18.3375, -64.9672

Aircraft

Piper PA23

Registration

N269KW

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

2

Operator

Executive Airshares Llc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Charlotte Amalie → St. Croix

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA19LA279

Nobody was injured.

The collapse of the left main landing gear for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that while back-taxiing at night on the takeoff runway, he cycled the propeller twice, pulled the throttle back to idle, and heard an irregular noise. He then felt ground contact, consistent with the airplane’s left main landing gear collapsing. He immediately shut off the mixtures to both engines. The pilot reported that he did not recognize that the landing gear was slowly collapsing because of the dark night conditions. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. Postaccident examination of the landing gear system revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Therefore, the reason for the landing gear collapse could not be determined.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.