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Atlas / NTSB / CEN10CA261

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN10CA261

2010-05-19 West Memphis, Arkansas, United States Airport · KAWM None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N427SP

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BELL 430

Year of manufacture

2001 · 9 years old at event

TCDS

H9SW · BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON

Engine

ROLLS-ROYC 250-C40B (715 hp)

Seats / Engines

10 seats · 2 engines

Last airworthiness date

20011022

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A5173E

Registrant of record

STATE OF NEW YORK

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

Failure of both pilots to ensure that the airplane was properly configured for landing.

Factual narrative

The two airline transport pilots were conducting a full-stop landing at their home airport. The airplane was put on a 5 to 8 mile final as the pilot read and quickly complete the checklist. The airplane was configured with full flaps and when the pilot went to actuate the landing gear he diverted his attention to his deteriorating airspeed and glidepath deviation. The pilot made the necessary correction to stabilize the approach. At 500 feet above the ground, the pilot glanced over to the gear indicator and thought he saw "three down." The pilot continued the approach and the airplane landed with the gear in the retracted position. Neither pilot reported hearing the gear warning horn. The two airline transport pilots were conducting a full-stop landing at their home airport. The pilot in the left seat was flying the airplane and the pilot in the right seat was conducting an Initial Operating Experience (IOE) assessment. The airplane was put on a 5 to 8 mile final as the pilot read and quickly completed the checklist. The airplane was configured with full flaps and when the pilot went to actuate the landing gear he diverted his attention to his deteriorating airspeed and glide path deviation. The pilot made the necessary correction to stabilize the approach. At 500 feet above the ground, the pilot glanced over to the gear indicator and thought he saw "three down." The pilot continued the approach and the airplane landed with the gear in the retracted position. Neither pilot reported hearing the gear warning horn which should have actuated when the pilot selected greater than half flaps and the gear was not properly configured. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incomplete action-Flight crew - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2010_CEN10CA261.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.