Piper PA-24-260 N9020P accident near Los Angeles, California

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear before landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot was concluding a personal flight. He stated that he lowered the landing gear while preparing to land and felt the airplane's drag increase; however, he could not remember if he got confirmation that the landing gear were down and locked from the indicator light in the cockpit. He stated that the landing flare was normal but that as the airplane continued the landing roll, all three landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained structural damage to the fuselage.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that all the landing gear were in the gear wells. The main landing gear doors were not damaged and only the nose landing gear door had light scratches, which is likely due to the landing gear being in the retracted position as the airplane touched down on the runway. A landing gear swing was accomplished, and no mechanical malfunctions or failures were revealed that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR17LA217 for the full record.