CEN10CA152
2010-03-10 · Marfa, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport KMRF
N541B has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BEECHCRAFT CORP B200GT, built 2013), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear.
Factual narrative
According to a telephone conversation with the pilot, during the landing flare, he realized that his landing gear had not been extended when the "step" contacted the runway. He initiated a go-around; however, the airplane did not climb as expected. The pilot turned the airplane to the right in an attempt to land on runway 21. When it was apparent that the pilot would not make it to runway 21, he extended the landing gear at which time the airplane descended rapidly and impacted terrain. The left main landing gear and nose landing gear collapsed. A post impact examination revealed that the left wing spar and ribs were damaged. Further examination revealed that the propeller had impacted the runway during the first landing attempt. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident. During the landing flare the pilot realized that his landing gear had not been extended when the "step" contacted the runway. He initiated a go-around; however, the airplane did not climb as expected. The pilot turned the airplane to the right in an attempt to land on runway 21. When it was apparent that the pilot would not make it to runway 21 he extended the landing gear, at which time the airplane descended rapidly and impacted terrain. The left main landing gear and nose landing gear collapsed. A postimpact examination revealed that the left wing spar and ribs were damaged. Further examination revealed that the propeller had impacted the runway during the first landing attempt. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Forgotten action/omission-Pilot - C
- C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Not used/operated - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2010_CEN10CA152.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research) Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace) Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes) Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…