NTSB Factual Report

On June 2, 2016, about 0230 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA 46-350P, N301DM, was substantially damaged during a gear-up landing at Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI), Seattle, Washington. The private pilot and the sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed and active. The cross-country flight, which had departed Reno, Nevada, about two and one-half hours prior to the accident, was being conducted in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, with the destination airport being BFI.

In postaccident statements supplied to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, and a Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspector, the pilot reported that just before he was given a final vector for the instrument landing system (ILS) 13R approach to BFI, and at an elevation of 2,200 feet mean sea level, he noticed that the two Tie Buss generator circuit breakers had popped; with no noticeable failures observed, he reset both by pushing them, and they stayed in. The pilot further reported that shortly thereafter when he was given a final vector to join the localizer, the whole panel went dark, with all of the post lights, backlit gauges, and engine instrument gauges having failed; the G500, both GNS530's, the 2 Garmin Transponders, the GMX200, the audio panel, and the autopilot were still functional. The pilot opined that this failure also affected the 3 green landing gear down and locked lights, and the landing gear warning horn. The pilot reported that he looked for the cause, but in the darkness it was difficult to see the position of the circuit breakers, and proceeded with the approach in order to get the airplane on the ground as soon as possible. When the autopilot joined the localizer and coupled with the glideslope, he lowered the flaps and extended the [landing] gear sequentially. The pilot stated that he thought he felt the gear [extend], but without the 3 green gear locked lights and without the gear warning horn, he was unable to determine if the gear was down and locked. The pilot subsequently made a gear-up landing on runway 13R at BFI, slid down the runway, and came to a stop upright, after which he shut down the engine.

The pilot reported that later that morning when a crane was used to lift the airplane, the landing gear was deployed to the down and locked position by gravity freefall. Subsequently, the pilot noticed that one of the two Tie Buss Main circuit breakers was popped out, which he had been unable to see in the darkness while making the approach. The pilot further stated that when he reset the breaker, the panel light came back up, the gear warning horn came on, the landing gear cycled normally, and the 3 green [landing] gear lights illuminated. The pilot also revealed during the postaccident interview with the NTSB IIC and the FAA IIC, that having encountered icing conditions en route, he activated the airplane's deicing equipment en route, which remained on throughout the entirety of the event, including the gear-up landing.

The airplane was recovered to a secured location for further examination.