Piper Aircraft INC PA-44-180 accident near Fort Worth, Texas, January 7, 2024
On January 7, 2024 at about 11:10 am local time, a 2022 Piper Aircraft INC PA-44-180, registered N816AT, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing near Fort Worth, Texas (Perot Fld/Fort Worth Alliance airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear and the flight instructor’s lack of recognition and inadequate remedial action, which resulted in a gear up landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made November 2, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 7, 2024 · about 11:10 am local time · cases in 2024
- Place
- Fort Worth, Texas · Perot Fld/Fort Worth Alliance · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper Aircraft INC PA-44-180, built 2022
- Registration
- N816AT · registry record · serial 4496535
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The flight instructor reported that he and the private pilot receiving instruction had just completed their seventh landing of the morning. The private pilot reduced the throttle on downwind and the landing gear warning horn sounded so he increased the throttle and continued in the traffic pattern. The flight instructor prompted him to extend the flaps and the student stated that he would extend the landing gear. They “confirmed 3 green,” which would indicate that the landing gear was down and locked. During the landing flare, “no gear warning horn was alarming,” but as they got closer to the ground the instructor observed sparks out of the left window. The airplane slid on the runway, came to rest upright, and sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage longerons. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector completed an extensive examination and functional testing of the landing gear system. With the airplane on jacks, he cycled the landing gear at least six times and determined the landing gear, warning annunciations and aural alerts operated per the procedures in the airplane’s maintenance manual and there were no anomalies found.
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
What happened, in order
- Landing gear not configured during landing defining event
The NTSB's findings
- Personnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Incomplete action › Pilot
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Landing gear system › (general) › Not used/operated other cases naming the landing gear
- Personnel issues › Action/decision › Info processing/decision › Identification/recognition › Instructor/check pilot
- Personnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Lack of action › Instructor/check pilot
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land
- Flight time: 142.8 hours in all; 28 in this make and model; 63.2 in the last 90 days; 28 in the last 30 days; 61.8 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: December 26, 2023
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Flight instructor
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine sea; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 108.1 hours in all; 121.7 in this make and model; 185.8 in the last 90 days; 51.8 in the last 30 days; 1,023.5 as pilot in command; 754.6 on instruments
- Last flight review: June 7, 2022
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 692.7 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, January 8, 2023
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: GKY Arlington TX at 9:50 am
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 34R, 11,000 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 36°F (2°C), dew point 32°F (0°C)
- Altimeter: 30.08 inHg
- Observation at 4:53 am from KAFW
Weather report (METAR): KAFW 071053Z 17003KT 10SM CLR 02/00 A3008 RMK AO2 SLP192 T00220000
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 2 |
Photographs from the investigation 4 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them
Photograph 1 – Airplane on ramp
Photograph 2 – Lower fuselage and gear door damage
Photograph 3 – Lower fuselage and flap damage
Photograph 4 – Lower fuselage and flap damageThe NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
3 documents, released by the NTSB on February 22, 2024. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot/operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 | PDF, 11 pages | View Download |
| 2 | FAA Examination Summary Memo | PDF, 2 pages | View Download |
| 3 | Photos | PDF, 5 pages · our copy | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N816AT on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 181 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Engine: Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 181 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Perot Fld/Fort Worth Alliance Airport · nearest airport
- Arlington Municipal · departed from
- Accidents and incidents in Texas 6,244 since 1982 · 1,063 in the last ten years
- Texas 29,976 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/CEN24LA086.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.