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ERA20CA148

2020-03-27 · Opalocka, Florida, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport OPF

Current FAA registration · N516DT

Make / Model
AERO COMMANDER 500-B
Year of manufacture
1965 · 55 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING TI0-540 SER (310 hp)
Seats / Engines
7 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
19651031
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A67816

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear due to distraction and his delayed go-around, which allowed the airplane to get too low and contact the runway with the landing gear retracted.

Factual narrative

At the conclusion of an uneventful flight, the commercial pilot approached the runway for landing. During the landing flare, the airplane landing gear warning horn activated, so the pilot initiated a go around. While climbing to traffic pattern altitude he noticed that the landing gear handle was in the up position. He did not hear or feel the airplane contact the runway. The pilot subsequently landed and departed without incident; however, after landing at another airport he performed a more thorough post-flight inspection of the airplane. He then noticed that the marker beacon antenna was shaved off and the lower fuselage had sustained substantial damage consistent with ground contact. The pilot reported that, during the descent to final, he began the GUMPS checklist. As he turned on the fuel tanks, he picked up interference on the radios. After fixing the radio situation, he continued the checklist. During the landing flare, he noticed that the "runway sight picture" seemed lower than normal. As he noticed this, he looked at the landing gear indicator, and the landing gear warning horn simultaneously sounded, so he initiated a go-around. While climbing to traffic pattern altitude, he noticed that he had failed to extend the landing gear. He added that he had not heard or felt the airplane contact the runway before the go-around. The pilot subsequently landed without incident and noted no damage during a cursory postflight inspection. He then departed and landed at another airport. Subsequently, he performed a more thorough postflight inspection of the airplane, during which he noticed that the marker beacon antenna was shaved off and that the lower fuselage of the airplane had sustained substantial damage consistent with ground contact. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Configuration-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ERA20CA148.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.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (go-around). All research papers