Summary
On March 17, 2010, a Piper PA-30 (N7925Y) was involved in an incident near Baltimore, MD. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during a touch-and-go landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent experience in the make and model airplane.
The pilot stated that he accumulated 26 hours of flight time in the accident airplane about 2 years prior to the accident, but had not flown the accident airplane since. About 1 week prior to the accident, the pilot obtained his airplane multiengine rating in a different make and model than the accident airplane. The pilot stated that the purpose of the accident flight was to perform full-stop landings in order to familiarize himself with the airplane. While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the first landing, he was cleared by the air traffic control tower for a "touch-and-go." After the airplane touched down, the pilot applied full power, and intended to retract the wing flaps, but inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead.
This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA10CA183. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N7925Y.
Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
The pilot's inadvertent retraction of the landing gear during a touch-and-go landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent experience in the make and model airplane.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
The pilot stated that he accumulated 26 hours of flight time in the accident airplane about 2 years prior to the accident, but had not flown the accident airplane since. About 1 week prior to the accident, the pilot obtained his airplane multiengine rating in a different make and model than the accident airplane. The pilot stated that the purpose of the accident flight was to perform full-stop landings in order to familiarize himself with the airplane. While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the first landing, he was cleared by the air traffic control tower for a "touch-and-go." After the airplane touched down, the pilot applied full power, and intended to retract the wing flaps, but inadvertently retracted the landing gear instead. The landing gear "immediately" collapsed, and the airplane slid to a stop on its underside. Both wings were substantially damaged. The pilot stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures, and that the accident might have been prevented if he had declined the touch-and-go landing, and had taken time to become more familiar with the locations of the landing gear and flap controls. He also stated that he had recently trained in an airplane with a "different layout," and his "sense memory for the controls was wrong."
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# ERA10CA183