LAX05LA221 · Piper PA-23-160

The airplane veered off the runway and collided with a taxiway light during a single engine landing, and the landing gear collapsed. The left engine could not be restarted following a practice shutdown and feather. Because the hydraulic pump is located on the left engine, the certified flight instructor was aware that the landing gear would have to be manually extended. They elected to return to the departure airport while the private pilot undergoing instruction flew an instrument landing system approach. The private pilot positioned the landing gear lever in the down position and pulled out the gear pump. The instructor did not verify the landing gear lever's position and pumped the handle about 10 to 20 times but was not successful in getting a down-and-locked indication in the landing gear lights, nor did the landing gear selector handle return to the neutral position. The instructor continued troubleshooting the airplane; however, the gear down-and-locked lights did not illuminate on any of the gear. The air traffic control tower (ATCT) gave the airplane an instruction to conduct a 360-degree right turn at 500 feet above ground level (agl). Prior to the entry into the turn, the instructor was considering the use of the Emergency Gear Extender; however, upon entry into the turn, control of the airplane demanded his full attention. As they rolled out from the turn, the instructor asked the controller to confirm that the landing gear appeared to be down. They replied affirmatively and the instructor took complete control of the airplane. Just prior to the airplane's entry into the flare, someone blind transmitted over the radio that the nose gear did not appear down. The instructor then applied power and the airplane rolled to the left and then impacted the ground. According to the Piper Apache owner's handbook, the hydraulic pump is located on the left engine. In the event of a power loss on the left engine, the hydraulic pump is rendered unusable. In order to obtain hydraulic pressure in the event of a hydraulic pump failure or left engine failure, the emergency pump handle should be extended and 30 to 40 pumps are required to raise or lower the landing gear. Upon full extension or retraction, the pump handle will position itself back into the neutral position. In the event of a hydraulic system failure caused by a line breakage or a selector valve malfunctioning, the gear can be extended using the Emergency Gear Extender. When this control is pulled, carbon dioxide flows from a cylinder under the floorboards and assists in extending the gear. The Emergency Gear Extender control is located beneath a small cover plate underneath the left pilot's seat. Post accident examination of the airplane and landing gear system showed that the landing gear lever was positioned close to the neutral position, rather than in the down position. The emergency landing gear system was actuated through the hand pump and extended into the down-and-locked position with no operational anomalies noted.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset