What happened
On September 17, 2020, a Piper PA-34-220T, registration EC-JOO, was performing a series of touch-and-go maneuvers at Cuatro Vientos Airport (LECU) in Madrid. The flight was a multi-engine piston training session involving an instructor and a student pilot.
Following a normal landing, the instructor instructed the student pilot to apply power for the subsequent takeoff. However, instead of increasing engine power, the student pilot moved the landing gear lever to the retracted position. Although the instructor immediately recognized the error and attempted to intervene, the nose gear retracted before the gear could be extended again. This caused the nose of the aircraft to strike the runway surface.
The instructor took control of the aircraft and managed to bring the plane to a stop near the J3 exit on the right side of runway 09. Both the instructor and the student pilot were uninjured. The aircraft sustained significant damage to the propeller tips and the lower portion of the fuselage due to contact with the asphalt.
The investigation
The investigation focused on why the landing gear was able to retract while the aircraft was still in contact with the runway, as the aircraft is equipped with a "squat" switch designed to prevent gear retraction on the ground and trigger a cockpit alarm.
Testing revealed that the squat switch was functioning correctly. When the aircraft was firmly on the ground, the gear could not be retracted, and an alarm sounded. The switch only allowed retraction when the aircraft's weight was partially lifted from the left main gear strut. Investigators concluded that at the moment the student pilot moved the lever, the aircraft likely had a slight amount of lift or had experienced a small bounce, meaning the nose gear was no longer sufficiently compressed to trigger the safety mechanism.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the student pilot retracting the landing gear lever instead of applying power during the touch-and-go maneuver.
- The aircraft was likely experiencing slight lift or a small bounce at the moment of the error, which prevented the squat switch from inhibiting the gear retraction or sounding the cockpit alarm.
- The student pilot had limited experience with aircraft featuring retractable landing gear, having only three hours of flight time in this specific model.
- All aircraft systems, including the squat switch and engine components, were found to be in proper working order.