Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On July 17, 2001, at 1005 mountain daylight time, a Beech 95-B55, N886N, registered to JDTS Leasing, LLC, and operated by Enterprise Airline Training Academy, was destroyed when the landing gear was retracted during landing roll at Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado. The flight instructor and the private pilot receiving instruction were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the instructional flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Englewood approximately 0830.

According to interviews conducted with the pilots and the accident report they submitted, the pilot receiving instruction was preparing for the multiengine practical test scheduled for the next day. After about an hour of practicing maneuvers, a simulated single engine ILS approach was made to runway 35R. They were then cleared to do a touch and go landing on runway 17L. The airplane touched down and slowed. The pilot receiving instruction raised the flaps and, instead of advancing the throttles to go around (which was the company's standard operating procedure), she raised the landing gear control switch instead, and the landing gear retracted. The airplane skidded to a halt and caught fire. Both occupants evacuated the airplane. The cabin area was gutted, and both wings sustained thermal damage.

The airplane was equipped with a squat switch that is designed to prevent inadvertent gear retraction when there is weight on the wheels. The switch later tested satisfactory. the pilot receiving instruction inadvertently retracting the landing gear during the landing roll. A contributing factor was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the pilot receiving instruction.