FlightFollowerSmall aircraft makes emergency landing at Terre Haute Regional Airport
The Return Looked Routine Until the Gear Was Tested
Piper PA-24-260 N73T departed on April 27, 2022, but the flight did not continue normally. Shortly after takeoff, the baggage door opened and the pilot decided to return to Terre Haute Regional Airport.
The official record
This occurrence was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board under accident number CEN22LA184. The Board records the event as occurring on 27 April 2022 at Terre Haute, IN. The aircraft is identified as a PIPER PA-24-260, registration N73T. The highest injury level recorded is none.
The Board’s record additionally lists phase of flight recorded as landing; landing, weather conditions recorded as Visual (VMC), operating under 091.
The investigation is closed. The Board determined the probable cause to be:
A hard landing, which resulted in the failure of the right main landing gear outer bearing and collapse of the landing gear.
NTSB, accident CEN22LA184
A probable cause is the Board’s determination of what brought the occurrence about. It is reached after the investigation closes and supersedes any earlier account, including contemporary reporting and anything inferred from the recording alone.
The full record can be retrieved from the NTSB’s public case system, CAROL, by searching accident number CEN22LA184.
Research and reconstruction
Flight Follower Editorial Team
This reconstruction was researched from official investigation records where they exist, the original air traffic control recording, and contemporary reporting. The aircraft movement, timeline and written account were assembled independently by Flight Follower. Where an investigation is open or no probable cause has been published, the account says so rather than offering one.
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Accident Facts
- Date
- 27 April 2022
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-24-260, N73T
- Location
- Terre Haute, Indiana
- Operation
- Part 91 personal flight
- Outcome
- 2 occupants uninjured; aircraft substantially damaged
- Investigation
- NTSB CEN22LA184
During the downwind leg, the landing-gear circuit breaker tripped when the pilot attempted to extend the gear. The pilot reset the breaker and recycled the landing gear. The gear-down indication appeared, providing the cockpit indication expected for landing.
The airplane touched down, but the right main landing gear collapsed. The right wing sustained substantial damage. Both occupants were uninjured.
A Green Light Could Only Tell the Pilot So Much
The cockpit indication was not itself defective. The gear-down light reflected the commanded configuration, but it could not reveal whether every structural component in the landing-gear assembly would withstand the landing loads.
The NTSB examination found that the outer bearing brace had failed, allowing the landing-gear strut to separate from the trunnion. The fracture surface was consistent with overload. Investigators did not find corrosion or fatigue as the initiating mechanism.
The distinction is important: the landing gear had apparently reached the expected down position, but the structural assembly still failed when loaded. An indication can confirm system state without guaranteeing structural integrity under stress.
The Hard Landing Became the Causal Link
The NTSB concluded that the decisive event was a hard landing. The landing load was sufficient to produce the overload failure of the right main gear outer bearing, followed by the collapse of the gear.
That does not mean the earlier baggage-door problem or circuit-breaker trip caused the gear collapse. Those events explain why the aircraft returned and why the pilot paid particular attention to the landing gear. The investigation instead connected the actual structural failure to the landing loads.
The result was a good example of how an apparently controlled emergency can still end with significant aircraft damage. The occupants were safe, but the aircraft was not.
What the Records Show
The investigation did not require a theory of hidden corrosion, fatigue or a pre-existing catastrophic defect. The physical evidence supported an overload failure associated with the hard landing.
Evidence and Findings
The accident also shows why a pilot should not treat a green gear indication as a guarantee that the landing gear assembly is structurally sound. A cockpit indication tells the crew what the system is reporting; it cannot reveal every load-bearing component's condition.
- A gear-down indication does not guarantee that the landing gear will withstand landing loads.
- Circuit-breaker trips and abnormal gear indications should be treated as genuine configuration concerns.
- Structural failures can occur during landing even when the aircraft appears correctly configured.
- A non-injurious outcome does not mean the event was operationally insignificant.
- Returning early for an abnormality can still end in a demanding landing.