What happened
Following a successful approach and landing, the pilot was taxiing the Piper PA-46 when a sequence of cockpit actions led to a gear collapse. While performing post-landing procedures—which included raising the flaps, lowering speed brakes, turning off landing lights, and switching off the transponder—the pilot inadvertently raised the landing gear lever.
Immediately after the lever was moved, both the nose gear and the right main landing gear collapsed. The aircraft came to rest on its left main gear, nose, and right wing. There were no injuries reported in the incident.
The investigation
Investigators reviewed the systems description from the FAA-approved Pilot Operating Handbook regarding the landing gear operating system. The cockpit control lever is mechanically linked to a hydraulic sequence valve located aft of the rear baggage compartment. This system utilizes a spring-loaded, electrically operated solenoid gate designed to physically prevent the gear handle from moving out of the down detent while weight is on the landing gear. This solenoid is intended to energize and allow retraction only when a squat switch on the left main gear strut senses strut extension (liftoff).
During the repair process, the landing gear system was examined by Hov-Air, Inc. The inspection revealed that the cockpit gear handle and its linkage to the hydraulic sequence valve were out of rigging tolerance. Specifically, the improper rigging prevented the gear selector lever from reaching the full down position where the solenoid gate would normally block movement.