Beechcraft 95-B55 (T42A) N2KM

Summary

On 30 August 2023 at about 01:40 local time, a Beechcraft 95-B55 (T42A) registered N2KM, operated by Rocky Mountain Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Greeley, Colorado, 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

30 August 2023 at 01:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Greeley, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Greeley/Weld County (GXY)

Coordinates

40.4279, -104.6334

Aircraft

Beechcraft 95-B55 (T42A)

Registration

N2KM

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

Rocky Mountain Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Broomfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN23LA407

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear. Contributing to the accident was a malfunction of the landing gear warning horn for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had conducted a practice instrument approach to a landing and chose to remain in the traffic pattern for a second landing in dusk light conditions. While he was on final approach, he was performing the pre-landing checklist (gas, undercarriage, mixture, props) when he was distracted “by what appeared to be another aircraft ahead of me…” However, he could not locate the object again after visually scanning the traffic pattern. During the landing, he heard the main wheels briefly on the runway surface immediately followed by the sound of the airplane’s lower fuselage contacting the runway surface. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the exterior of the landing gear doors, along with the lower fuselage skin and underlying structure, had substantial abrasion damage with no damage to the landing gear structure or linkages. The landing gear operated normally during multiple gear retraction and extension tests. However, during the landing gear test, the cockpit landing gear warning system failed to sound an audible warning for reasons that could not be determined. Based on available information, it is likely that the pilot failed to extend the airplane’s landing gear before touchdown on the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.