Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ERA24LA138

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA24LA138

2024-03-07 Stafford, Virginia, United States Airport · RMN None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N6339P

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-24-180

Year of manufacture

1959 · 65 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19591208

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A84C82

Registrant of record

SHOTWELL ANDREW C

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

An overloading of the landing gear push/pull cable rod ends, which resulted in the landing gear being seized in an intermediate position during the subsequent landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while landing at his initial destination, the right main landing gear partially collapsed. He stated that the initial touchdown was normal, and not hard or side loaded. Once the right main gear partially collapsed, the pilot aborted the landing and attempted to retract the landing gear; however, it would not retract, and the landing gear circuit breaker tripped. The pilot contacted a mechanic and attempted to troubleshoot the problem during the pilot’s flight back to his home airport. During the troubleshooting, the pilot attempted to utilize the manual landing gear extension without success. The pilot performed multiple low passes for the mechanic to visually observe the landing gear. The mechanic reported that the left main landing gear appeared to be almost fully extended; however, the right main and nose gear were in a mid-transit position. After multiple failed attempts to correct the landing gear problem in the air, the pilot landed at his home airport. During the landing, the landing gear fully collapsed resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and the wing spar. Examination of the landing gear by the mechanic revealed that the left and right main landing gear push tubes were bent, consistent with the push rods being overloaded. An operational test of the landing gear motor revealed that it operated normally. 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).

  • Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Malfunction
  • Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Landing gear actuator-Damaged/degraded

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA24LA138.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.