No fatalities

27 Feb 2008: Piper PA-44-180 — Pan Am International Flight Academy — Gila Bend, AZ

Gila Bend, AZ, United States

On 27 Feb 2008, a Piper PA-44-180 operated by Pan Am International Flight Academy was involved in an aviation accident near Gila Bend, AZ. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: During the landing rollout and subsequent take-off roll, one of the crewmembers inadvertently placed the landing gear selector in the "up" position. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

Flight crew inadvertently retracted landing gear during landing rollout after touchdown. The aircraft veered off runway. Investigation found gear selector was unintentionally moved to up position.

Event Description

The accident occurred during the landing rollout when the flight crew inadvertently retracted the landing gear. Both the pilot under instruction (PUI) and the certified flight instructor (CFI) had confirmed that the landing gear indicator lights were illuminated and had visually confirmed the nose gear was extended using the airframe mirror. After touchdown, the right wing began to drop, and the CFI took control of the aircraft. However, the airplane veered off the runway.

Securing and Recovery

As the pilots secured the aircraft, they observed the landing gear activation switch in the retracted position. During recovery, the landing gear was extended, retracted, and then extended again. No damage to the landing gear locking mechanism was observed.

Investigation

The safety officer of the flight academy interviewed the flight crew and the recovery personnel. Following the interviews, it was determined that during the landing rollout and subsequent take-off roll, one of the crewmembers inadvertently placed the landing gear selector in the "up" position.

Probable cause

During the landing rollout and subsequent take-off roll, one of the crewmembers inadvertently placed the landing gear selector in the "up" position.

Contributing factors

Flight crewPilot