Beech 58 incident near Columbus, Mississippi, October 1, 2003
On October 1, 2003 at about 10:38 pm local time, a Beech 58, registered N7219H, suffered minor damage in an incident near Columbus, Mississippi (Columbus-Lowndes County Airpor airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to follow the pre-landing checklist, and his failure to extend the landing gear which resulted in a wheels up landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 1, 2003 · about 10:38 pm local time
- Place
- Columbus, Mississippi · Columbus-Lowndes County Airpor · map
- Type
- Incident · collision on the ground
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Beech 58 · all 58s on the register
- Registration
- N7219H · registry record · serial TH 1447
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Upon returning to the airport the pilot requested a traffic advisory and a glider pilot announced he was in the traffic pattern for runway 36. The pilot announced that he would extend his downwind and base to final to give the glider time to land. He stated that he went through his pre-landing checklist but elected not to lower the gear at that time, instead he lowered the flaps and proceeded to turn base to final. He said that he spotted the glider on the ground about one mile out on final and proceeded to land and forgot that he had not lowered his landing gear until he heard the gear warning horn and landed with the gear retracted. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane during the landing. According to the pilot, he had accumulated over 750 landings in retractable geared airplanes and had never forgot to put the gear down until now.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 934 hours in all; 160 in this make and model; 9 in the last 90 days; 2 in the last 30 days; 900 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: August 13, 2003
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,301.5 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, October 14, 2002; 77 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,524 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Continental IO-550-C6F (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Continental IO550-C6F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: UBS Columbus MS at 10:21 pm
- Destination: UBS
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 36, 4,500 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 320° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 3,500 ft
- Temperature: 66°F (19°C), dew point 50°F (10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.22 inHg
- Observation at 10:55 pm from MCB, 10 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ATL04IA010.