3 Aug 2022: EADS SOCATA TBM 700 — HOTEL ROMEO LLC

3 Aug 2022: EADS SOCATA TBM 700 (N620WG) — HOTEL ROMEO LLC

No fatalities • Carlsbad, NM, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear before landing due to a distraction, which resulted in an impact with the runway.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On August 3, 2022, about 0830 mountain daylight time, a Socata TBM-700 airplane, N620WG, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The pilot stated he followed another airplane into the traffic pattern and maintained separation visually as the other airplane landed in front of him. When the airplane reached short final, the pilot heard a low tone he was unfamiliar with. He chose to ignore the tone and concentrate on landing the airplane. As the airplane touched down, the propeller impacted the runway and the airplane settled to the runway on its belly and came to a stop near centerline. The landing gear switch was found in the down position, the main landing gear were found in a partially extended position, and the nose gear and landing gear doors were in a retracted position. The pilot did not recall when he put the landing gear switch down and he did not recall looking at the landing gear indicator lights on the approach. He further stated that he “failed to confirm 3 green,” and he let himself become distracted by the traffic in the pattern. The main landing gear doors had damage to their faces on the lower 1/3 of each of the doors. The nose gear doors had damage to the face of both doors. There was substantial damage to the stringers and frames on the underside of the airplane. The airplane was placed on jack stands and the landing gear was cycled up and down. It was noted that during extension the nose gear doors opened at the same time the main landing gear began to extend. No anomalies were noted with the landing gear system.

Contributing factors

  • Pilot
  • Pilot
  • Not used/operated

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 160/04kt, 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.