Incident Overview
Upon arrival at his destination airport, the pilot of a Piper PA-30 attempted to extend the landing gear for landing. He found that one of the landing gear system circuit breakers had tripped. After an unsuccessful first attempt to reset the breaker, a second attempt was successful. The pilot observed that the green landing gear down light was illuminated, indicating the gear was locked in the down position.
Landing and Collapse
During the landing roll, the landing gear collapsed, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. When the master switch was later turned on by the pilot during recovery, the landing gear dropped into the extended position.
Pilot Interview and Procedure
Interviews with the pilot revealed that after resetting the circuit breaker, he did not continue with the "landing gear failure and manual gear extension" procedure as published in the pilot’s operating handbook for the accident airplane.
Postaccident Examination
A postaccident examination by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector determined that the landing gear would extend and lock in the down position when the manual gear extension procedure was utilized.