NTSB LAX91LA187 — 1991-04-29 · GOODYEAR, Arizona, United States

Current FAA registration · N5585Y

Make / Model: BEECH F33A
Engine: CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)
Seats / Engines: 5 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19891009
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A72041

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N5585Y Beech F33A None

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ENSURE THAT THE AIRPLANE'S LANDING GEAR WAS EXTENDED BY THE PASSENGER WHO HE WAS ALLOWING FLY THE AIRPLANE. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR RELATED TO THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION OF THE PASSENGER.

Factual narrative

THE OPERATOR AUTHORIZED THE PILOT TO FLY WITH A PASSENGER FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATING THE PASSENGER'S CAPABILITIES AS A PROSPECTIVE PILOT. THE PILOT ALLOWED THE PASSENGER TO FLY THE AIRPLANE. ON FINAL APPROACH THE PILOT FAILED TO NOTICE THAT THE PASSENGER HAD NOT EXTENDED THE LANDING GEAR, AND THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN WITH ITS GEAR RETRACTED. DURING THE SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE THE LANDING GEAR AND ITS RELATED WARNING SYSTEM WERE FOUND TO OPERATE NORMALLY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_LAX91LA187.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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