FlightFollowerMultiple System Failures Require Emergency Aircraft Handling
On 11 August 2017, Piper PA-31T N113RC was flying near Greenwood, Mississippi, when a landing-gear warning horn began sounding and the pilot could not silence it. The pilot elected to return to Greenwood-Leflore Airport. During the return, the aircraft’s autopilot engaged and became another problem: the pilot spent hours trying to disengage it while consulting other pilots and a Piper representative. The aircraft eventually returned using variable engine thrust and landed without further incident.
Accident Facts
- Date
- 11 August 2017
- Registration
- N113RC
A warning became a systems problem
the incident account, which reproduces the available incident account, says the landing-gear warning horn could not be silenced. That prompted the precautionary return. The source does not establish that the landing gear itself had actually failed to extend or retract; the documented problem was the warning system and the pilot’s inability to silence it.
The autopilot became the larger operational challenge
Eventually the pilot was able to control the aircraft using variable thrust from the engines. That detail is important because it describes the method by which the aircraft was returned, rather than implying a particular mechanical failure.
A precautionary landing without injuries
The source states that the pilot was not injured and that the aircraft sustained minor damage. It also says the aircraft was retained for investigation. No later investigation result is supplied in the available video record, and no final cause has been assigned to the multiple anomalies.
The documented record
“The pilot was able to redirect the airplane to GWO with variable thrust from the engines and landed the airplane without further incident.” — the incident account reproduced in the incident account
Conclusion
The available record supports a clear sequence but not a final mechanical explanation. N113RC developed a warning problem, the pilot returned, the autopilot then became difficult to disengage and the pilot ultimately landed using variable thrust. The absence of a verified final investigation finding is explicitly preserved rather than replaced with a guess.