NTSB DEN02LA072 — 2002-06-30 · Watkins, Colorado, United States

Current FAA registration · N6283U

Make / Model: MOONEY M20C
Year of manufacture: 1962 · 40 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19620528
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A836C9

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N6283U Mooney M20C None

Probable cause & findings

the pilot's failure to use the pre-landing checklist, resulting in an inadvertent wheels up landing.

Factual narrative

On June 30, 2002, at 0811 mountain daylight time, a Mooney M20C, N6283U, owned and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged when it landed gear up at Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins, Colorado. The private pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the local personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Front Range Airport at 0755. In a telephone interview and reiterated in his accident report, the pilot said that the purpose of the flight was to practice touch-and-go landings. He said he "forgot to put the gear down" when he made his first approach to runway 26 and landed wheels up. Damage consisted of a bent propeller, scraped panels underneath the airplane, a broken antenna, and bent ribs. The purpose of the flight was to practice touch-and-go landings. The pilot said he "forgot to put the gear down" and landed wheels up, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2002_DEN02LA072.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.