15 Mar 2023: CESSNA 177RG

15 Mar 2023: CESSNA 177RG (N2572V) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Spanish Fork, UT, United States

Probable cause

The retraction of the main landing gear for undetermined reasons.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On March 15, 2023, about 1335 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 177RG, N2572V, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident in Spanish Fork, Utah. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that the accident flight was the first flight since the airplane had undergone maintenance to the landing gear pump indication relay and diode to correct an uncommanded gear pump activation. The pilot departed Provo Municipal Airport (PVU), Provo, Utah and retracted the landing gear during the initial climb. After a short cross-country flight to Spanish Fork Municipal Airport/Woodhouse Field (SPK), Spanish Fork, Utah, the pilot was cleared to land. According to the pilot, the extension of the landing gear during the approach was flawless, with all indications and lights operating normally. The pilot reported that the landing was normal. The pilot remarked that, “This airplane normally dances around a little bit after landing, so I usually start retracting the flaps to get more weight on the wheels and better brake effectiveness”. Additionally, the pilot affirmed that he raised the flap lever to the 10° setting during the landing roll and the airplane “started to waller” from side to side. The main landing gear then retracted. With the tail of the airplane dragging on the runway, the airplane skidded to a stop, with the nose of the airplane hanging off the left side of the runway in the dirt. Postaccident photographs of the airplane revealed that the nose landing gear was down and locked, as confirmed during the postaccident examination, but the left and right main landing gear had retracted. Postaccident examination of the landing gear system revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The landing gear function check was performed using the manufacturer’s maintenance manual. The landing gear operational function checks revealed normal operation within parameters, with no anomalies throughout the examination. The diode and relay installed the morning of the accident flight were tested and functioned with no defects noted. Following the postaccident examination, the pilot was asked, "Is it possible that you retracted the landing gear instead of the flaps during the landing roll?" The pilot replied, "Regarding your question, I’m pretty sure that the flap lever was never touched during the landing roll."

Contributing factors

  • Pilot
  • Directional control — Not attained/maintained
  • Gear extension and retract sys

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 180/06kt, vis 9sm

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.