Incident Overview
On July 27, 2022, at approximately 0900 central daylight time, a Mooney M20C airplane, registration N21007, was substantially damaged during a landing accident near Farmington, Missouri. The aircraft was operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The flight instructor and the pilot were not injured.
Sequence of Events
The flight originated from Washington County Airport (8WC) in Potosi, Missouri, about 0820. The purpose of the flight was to conduct a flight review for the pilot. As the airplane approached its destination, Farmington Regional Airport (FAM), the flight instructor extended the landing gear. He felt the gear drop but did not see a safe landing gear light indication in the cockpit. The gear was cycled three to four times; the down light flickered but did not indicate a safe down condition.
The flight instructor decided to land the airplane as gently as possible on the runway. During the landing, he felt the tires contact the runway, and the landing gear collapsed a few seconds later. The airplane slid on its belly, resulting in substantial damage to formers and stringers below the belly skin.
Post-Accident Examination
A local mechanic lifted the airplane and found that the gear down lights did not illuminate. The landing gears were secured with bars and the airplane was towed off the runway. On December 5, 2022, the landing gear system was examined. The mechanical linkages were functional, and no failures or abnormalities were found. When the master switch was turned on, there were no landing gear light indications for either the up or down lights.
It was discovered that the owner had partially removed the instrument panel after the accident, and it was no longer grounded. A jumper wire was used to complete the ground from the instrument panel to the airframe. With this ground restored, the gear was fully down and the green gear down indicator lights illuminated. When the gear handle was moved toward the up position, all three landing gear retracted. The gear was cycled multiple times without malfunction, and the cockpit gear up/down lights functioned normally. The throttle position warning horn was checked and found to be functioning.
Examination Findings
The entire landing gear system performed correctly, and no faults were discovered. A review of the airframe logbook entries revealed no discrepancies or uncorrected defects with the landing gear system.