Cessna 560XL N613QS accident near White Plains, New York

Probable cause

An uncommanded landing gear retraction after touchdown for undetermined reasons.

NTSB analysis

After an uneventful flight, the airplane touched down at its destination airport. Approximately 3 seconds after touchdown, about the time when the speedbrakes were deployed, the landing gear warning horn began to annunciate and the landing gear retracted. There were no unsafe landing gear configuration warnings prior to touchdown. Extensive testing of the airplane's hydraulic and electrical systems did not reveal any malfunctions that would have resulted in the accident sequence. The landing gear and speedbrake systems were independent; however, wiring from both systems were located on five sets of common connectors. Examination of the wires and connector pins within wiring bundles common to the speedbrake and landing gear system did not reveal any evidence of electrical faults; however, an electrical short could have existed at the time of the accident which would have resulted in a spurious retract signal and would not have been evident in subsequent testing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for NYC08LA162 for the full record.