Cessna 172RG N5404V accident near Lockhart, Texas

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s failure to use the emergency checklist, and his failure to extend the landing gear manually. Contributing to the accident was the electrical failure/malfunction for reasons undetermined.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor reported that after departure during an instructional flight, the landing gear was slow to retract, the radios made “clicking noises,” “flickered” and began to fail, and the fuel gauges registered near empty. The flight instructor assumed control of the airplane. During the landing approach, he attempted to lower the flaps, but there was no response. He instructed the student pilot to lower the landing gear. He said there was no warning horn or annunciator light to indicate that the gear was either up or down. He did not say whether he or the student pilot looked outside to see if the landing gear appeared to be down and locked. The airplane landed with the gear partially extended and veered off the right side of the runway into the grass. The outboard portion of the right wing and the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator were bent. The airplane was later ferried to a repair facility. According to the ferry pilot, he recharged the battery and flew uneventfully to the repair facility. The repair facility reported finding no anomalies with the airplane’s electrical system.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN10LA128 for the full record.