Monday, November 16, 2020

Cessna 310Q, N7640Q: Incident occurred November 14, 2020 at Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport (KPKB), Parkersburg, West Virginia

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Charleston, West Virginia

Aircraft landed gear up. 


Date: 15-NOV-20
Time: 02:07:00Z
Regis#: N7640Q
Aircraft Make: CESSNA
Aircraft Model: 310
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: LANDING (LDG)
Operation: 91
City: PARKERSBURG
State: WEST VIRGINIA

Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport manager Glen Kelly offered an update on a few events at the airport including an incident that resulted in no injuries or damages and a flight check for a piece of equipment that will be used for the first time since its installation in 2006.

On November 14 around 9 p.m., the pilot of a privately owned plane called the airport and said he was having issues with the electrical parts of his aircraft.

The pilot was not from this area and was on his way to Pittsburgh when the incident happened, Kelly said. The electrical issues caused his gear to not work properly and at one point, the lights went off on the panel of the aircraft and the pilot had to do a precautionary landing at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport.

“He did a good job of keeping it down the center line, which is good. (It was) much safer for him. Thank God nobody was hurt,” Kelly said. “Our firetruck was ready, they went out immediately.”

There was no fire or damage to the runway or lights. The only damage sustained was to the aircraft because it bellied in, Kelly said.

Airport staff worked most of the night to clear the runway.

“We were very fortunate,” Kelly said.

A flight check is scheduled which will test the airport’s Precision Approach Lighting System which uses lights to indicate to the pilots if they are approaching the runway at the proper angle.

After several months of preparation involving removing trees and a total of four surveys, it is now ready for a flight check.

“We’re ready for a flight check to say ‘you’re ready to go and you can turn it on,'” Kelly said. “I’m just glad we’re nearing the finish line here and getting this thing fully operational.”

4 comments:

  1. Listening to ATC recording, seems like flight diverted for electrical system problems. Would electrical problems cause gear to fail?

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    1. Yes, the gear on a 310 are electro-mechanical operated. There are many failure points electrically in the gear system from the fuse box to the motor actuators. However the gear has a manual extension crank in the event of an electrical failure. The question here is was that even attempted?

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    2. May not have understood that gear wouldn’t work with the electric problem. May have thought gear would come down with lever manipulation if he/she didn’t understand the gear system. Any other indications that gear is up/down other than lights?

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