2 Apr 2008: Bennett Lancair 320

2 Apr 2008: Bennett Lancair 320 (N456) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Hillsboro, OR, United States

Probable cause

The malfunction of the airplane's battery and alternator that resulted in the failure of the landing gear to extend and lock in place.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

**This report was modified on 10/28/2014. Please see the public docket for this accident to view the original report.**On April 2, 2008, about 1423 Pacific daylight time, an experimental Bennett Lancair 320, N456, landed with the nose gear and left main landing gear retracted at Portland-Hillsboro Airport, Portland, Oregon. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The certificated private pilot and one passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained damage to the wing spar that was determined not to be substantial. The local personal instructional flight departed Hillsboro at 1300. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot stated that while in cruise flight, the airplane lost electrical power. The pilot immediately turned off the radios and intercom in order to try to save electrical power. He also went through emergency procedures for a loss of electrical power. The pilot flew back to the Hillsboro airport through Columbia Gorge in case he had to make an emergency landing.

The pilot attempted to bring the gear down, but only heard the right main gear go down and lock. The left main gear and the nose gear did not seem to go down. The pilot stated that he went through the emergency checklist, but there is no emergency gear extension system installed on the airplane. He returned to the Hillsboro area, and received a green light-gun signal to land from the local tower. While landing, the landing gear collapsed about 500 or 600 feet down runway 30. The airplane skidded and the right main gear snapped off. The airplane went off the left side of the runway onto the grass, shearing off an intersection marker.

The pilot reported that after the occurrence, tower personnel told him that when he had flown by, the gear "did not look good." Several times during the flight the pilot checked and did not see any blown fuses. He had pulled a fuse himself and then reset it in order to "relieve pressure from the system."

After the occurrence, the pilot tested the battery and found that it had a dead cell. He also found discrepancies with the alternator. He found no anomalies within the wiring or fuses.

Contributing factors

  • cause Malfunction
  • cause Malfunction
  • Inoperative
  • Sign/marker

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.