Beech 58 N8121R accident near Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Probable cause

The failure of the normal and emergency landing gear system to fully retract or extend the landing gear for reasons that could not be determined during postaccident examinations, which resulted in a partial gear-up landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot stated that he was unable to fully retract the landing gear after takeoff and the landing gear position indicator transition light remained illuminated. He tried to manually extend the landing gear, but the crank arm was difficult to turn. Unable to fully extend or retract the landing gear, the pilot diverted to a nearby airport where he performed a landing with the gear partially extended, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane. During the postaccident recovery and examination of the airplane, the landing gear was cycled repeatedly using the airplane’s normal (electrical) landing gear system and operated normally. Although the manual landing gear extension handle was difficult to turn during postaccident testing, this would not explain why the gear would not retract. Postaccident examination of the landing gear system could not duplicate the condition that resulted in the partial gear-up landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN12LA283 for the full record.