ERA20LA259
2020-07-22 · Montgomery, Alabama, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport MGM
Current FAA registration · N425BJ
- Make / Model
- BEECH 400
- Year of manufacture
- 1987 · 33 years old at event
- Engine
- P&W CANADA JT15D-5
- Seats / Engines
- 9 seats · 2 engines
- Last airworthiness date
- 20060414
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A50E54
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
Landing with the left main landing gear retracted due to the failure of the landing gear control unit, which resulted in substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On July 22, 2020, about 1100 central daylight time, a Beech 400, N425BJ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM), Montgomery, Alabama. The two pilots and one passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, after extending the landing gear for landing, he did not receive a positive indication that the left main landing gear was down and locked. The pilot referred to the airplane’s emergency procedures for manual landing gear extension, but this procedure failed to extend the gear. The pilot then elected to shut down the left engine and land with the left main landing gear retracted. During landing, the pilot was able to keep the airplane on the runway surface. The left wing was substantially damaged from contact with the runway surface. During postaccident examination by a mechanic, the landing gear and doors would not retract or extend normally after multiple attempts. Troubleshooting identified the landing gear control unit as the possible source of the anomalies. The landing gear control unit was replaced, and the landing gear functioned normally. The pilot did not receive a positive indication that the left main landing gear was down and locked. After completing all applicable emergency checklists, he elected to shut down the left engine and land with the left main landing gear retracted. The left wing was substantially damaged during landing. During postaccident examination the landing gear control unit was replaced, and the landing gear functioned normally. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.
- — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Failure
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_ERA20LA259.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type. All research papers
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Abstract Incorporation of EGPWS in the NASA Ames Research Center 747-400 Flight Simulator
The NASA Ames Research Center CAE Boeing 747300 flight simulator is used primarily for the study of human factors in aviation safety.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2017 · Journal article (IJAAA) Cruise Missile Integrated Air Defense System Penetration: Modeling the S-400 System
This research determines improved flight-path routes that make maximum utilization of terrain-masking opportunities, and defending radar and missile system equipment performance and launch timing cons…
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint Pick-to-Learn Calibration of an MPC Policy for an Origin-to-Destination Flight Problem
This paper illustrates the Pick-to-Learn methodology applied to the calibration of a Model Predictive Control policy. While developed around a specific example, the presentation is meant to highlight …
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Technical Memorandum (TM) Assessing National Airspace System Impact of the Hybrid Electric Turboprop Commercial Freighter
The Hybrid Electric Turboprop Commercial Freighter (HETCOF) is a large turboprop aircraft using hybrid electric propulsion designed to reduce cost and emissions for narrowbody cargo operations capable…
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint ROSflight 2.0: Lean ROS 2-Based Autopilot for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
ROSflight is a lean, open-source autopilot ecosystem for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Designed by researchers for researchers, it is built to lower the barrier to entry to UAV research and acceler…
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (BMC Medical Education) Augmented reality visualization for ultrasound-guided interventions: a pilot randomized crossover trial to assess trainee performance and cognitive load
Augmented reality (AR) technology involving head-mounted displays (HMD) represents a significant innovation in medical education, particularly for training in guided invasive procedures.