Piper PA-24-250 N5844P accident near Grand Forks, North Dakota

Probable cause

Failure of the landing gear to properly extend before landing for reasons that could not be determined.

NTSB analysis

The pilot reported that the landing gear did not extend properly as he approached the intended destination airport. His attempts to extend the landing gear manually were not successful, and he decided to divert to a tower-controlled airport. The tower controller subsequently confirmed that the landing gear appeared to be “a few inches down from the retracted position” but was not fully extended. He ultimately executed an emergency gear-up landing.

A postaccident examination of the landing gear system was performed after the airplane was repositioned to a hangar at the airport. The landing gear motor jack screw corresponded to the retracted position at the time of the exam. Electrical power did not appear to be reaching the gear extension motor. When the nose landing gear doors were released (opened), the landing gear was able to be extended manually. Although, the examination confirmed an anomaly with both the primary and secondary extension/retraction systems, it did not determine the exact problem.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN22LA102 for the full record.