Executive summary
On Thursday 13 April 2006 at about 1530, ZK-FMU, a Piper PA 23-250 Aztec, was landed intentionally at Napier Aerodrome with its landing gear retracted. On board were a student pilot and an instructor. Nobody was injured.
During a normal circuit, the landing gear selector lever broke when the student attempted to select the landing gear down. The instructor could not reach the remaining segment of the lever to select the landing gear down, and neither of the 2 emergency gear lowering systems would work without the gear being selected down.
A safety issue identified was the unreliability of visual inspections to detect landing gear selector lever cracking. A safety recommendation addressing this issue was made to the Director of Civil Aviation.
Related Recommendations
require all operators of the Piper PA 23-250 Aztec aeroplanes that are subject to AD DCA/PA-23/155A, to replace the gear selector lever with the new improved version, part number 761213, as soon as practicable.