N6696PPiper PA-24-250 · 1960

On August 24, 2019, about 1315 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250 airplane, N6696P, was substantially damaged during landing at the Wendover Airport (ENV), Wendover, Nevada. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The cross-country flight departed South Valley Regional Airport (U42), Salt Lake City, Utah, at 1215, with a destination of ENV.

The pilot reported that during the approach to ENV, he lowered the landing gear and waited for the landing gear indicator light to illuminate. When the indicator light did not illuminate, he continued to cycle the landing gear lever several times to no avail. The landing gear extension motor-raise motor release arm was released and the landing gear extension handle was operated. Despite his actions, the landing gear did not extend. The pilot contacted the airport's UNICOM and declared an emergency. Another pilot who was flying a helicopter in the area contacted the pilot and told him that he would come up along side the airplane to get a visual on the airplane's landing gear. The helicopter pilot reported that the landing gear was about a 1/3 extended. Furthermore, the pilot's wife used the landing gear spot mirrors and verified that the landing gear was partially extended; and that only the tires were visible. In a final attempt to get the landing gear extended, the pilot conducted heavy g-force maneuvers but was unsuccessful. The pilot decided that it was time to land at ENV and landed on the dirt section, adjacent to the runway. During the landing sequence, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower forward section of the fuselage.

The airplane serial number (s/n) 24-1821, was manufactured in 1960 and purchased by the pilot in 2015. The low-wing airplane was equipped with four seats, retractable tricycle landing gear, and traditional flight control surfaces. The pilot reported having accrued 384 flight hours in the airplane at the time of the accident.

A review of the maintenance logbooks and the tachometer reading at the accident site indicated that the airplane had a total time in service of 2,080.11 hours. On June 23, 2018, 5.62 flight hours before the accident, the landing gear was swung, and an emergency extension of the landing gear was performed during an annual inspection. No anomalies were noted.

The airplane was relocated to a secure location and a postaccident examination was conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC). The landing gear system examination revealed that the landing gear would not extend under normal operations. After further examination, the landing gear solenoid was found inoperative.

The emergency landing gear extension system was examined. The emergency landing gear motor-raise motor release arm, and the landing gear emergency gear handle was operated multiple times and no anomalies were noted. For further information on the post-accident examination see the Wreckage Examination Summary in the public docket for this accident.