Event ANC06LA069

Factual narrative

On June 4, 2006, about 1300 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 421B airplane, N80MJ, sustained substantial damage during a gear-up landing at the Craig Municipal Airport, Jacksonville, Florida, following an emergency descent and landing after takeoff. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as an instrument flight rules (IFR) personal cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 15, the pilot said during initial climb after takeoff he smelled smoke and felt heat in the cockpit. He said there was no place immediately ahead to land, so he turned back toward the airport. He said several aural warnings sounded. He thought one was the landing gear warning horn, and the other was his digital fuel indicator, which he said showed no fuel flow. He reported that during the descent to the airport, his communications radio malfunctioned, and he was unable to contact the tower after declaring the initial emergency. The pilot said he thought the airplane was on fire, and landed gear-up in the dirt between the taxiway and the runway. He said the four fuel tanks were full, and that no maintenance had recently been performed on the airplane. According to the pilot, the airplane collided with runway signs causing structural damage to the wings. On June 8, during a telephone conversation with the IIC, an FAA operations inspector said he had examined the accident airplane accompanied by an FAA maintenance inspector. He said they found no sign of heat or fire in the engine compartments or fuselage. He said when they applied power to the navigation instruments and communications equipment, they found no anomalies. The airplane was not examined by the NTSB. The private certificated pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91. He reported that during initial climb after takeoff, he felt intense heat from the instrument panel and floorboard. He also thought he smelled smoke. The pilot declared an emergency, and returned to the airport. He said several aural warning alarms sounded, and his communications radio was inoperative. He reported he thought the airplane was on fire, and landed in the dirt between the runway and taxiway, with the landing gear retracted. The airplane collided with the ground and a runway sign, damaging its wings. An FAA operations inspector and an FAA maintenance inspector examined the airplane. They found no evidence of heat or smoke, and the navigation instruments and communications radios appeared to operate normally. The airplane was not examined by the NTSB. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12