I have a general question as to when an incident needs to be reported to the NTSB. I know of a PC-12 that landed gear up at Centennial Airport near Denver, but I can not find any reference to it on the NTSB website. I should clarify the “landing” by saying that the pilot, hit the runway, made a go-around, an then landed with the gear down. I know that the aircraft was put into a hanger, where it sat until “things quieted down.” I personally saw the airplane, and it had damage to the belly, engine, and prop. Engine was removed, new prop put on, etc. When I spoke with the pilot about it, he told me that the owner and the facility that repaired the plane wanted to keep this a quiet as possible. How is this possible?
FAA = grim reaper of pilot careers/air carriers
Why would you care? Was anyone hurt?
Maybe he shouldn’t care, but the next person buying the plane should assuming some of the repairs “are not logged”. 
Sometimes it takes a long time for accident records to be published. Often the FAA.gov website has a summary of those reported in the last 10 days. It may have been sent into the voluntary reporting database and these take a long time before they are released. a few of the databases may be found here: nasdac.faa.gov/
There is also a lot of info on the NTSB website.
ntsb.gov/Info/gils/gilsac.htm
An accident is defined as “an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage”
The Safety Board also investigates some incidents, including them in the database in the same form as accidents. Typically, incidents do not involve the level of injury or damage characteristic of an accident. An incident is defined as “an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.”
Why? I saw an accident today where a main landing gear was sheared off, came back and landed in the grass. I heard the same thing.
What happens when the FAA sees the bird in the repair shop 30 days later and asks why no report was filed?
See 830.5 for which events are reportable to the NTSB:
ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/te … 49;cc=ecfr
The landing gear are not considered “flight control surfaces” and therefore do not require a report to the NTSB unless one of the other seven named criteria are met.
Hope that helps!
This accident with a Cessna 310 that I posted in April never made it to the NTSB accident website for some strange reason. It happened 4/25/09 and I never heard another word about it. I was always interested in what caused the “pop” that was reported in the newspaper article…
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