Narrative:

For many years the annual on my friend's seneca III has been done every july. Last year; as usual; the plane was returned from its annual sometime in july. As I am an approved pilot on the plane; and the end of july was only days away; I flew the plane to drop it off for its annual. Upon approaching the pattern for landing I received an unsafe gear warning on the panel and only 'two greens' of the three landing gear indicator lights; with the nose gear light not lighting. After several cycles of the gear and additional gear troubleshooting I notified the tower of the situation. The tower suggested a fly by for visual inspection; which I did. The tower reported full gear down; with no 90 degrees for the nose wheel. The tower cleared landing on runway 24 and dispatched emergency crews 'just in case.' landing occurred and the nose wheel collapsed; damaging the nose of the plane as it skidded down the runway to a resting stop. The plane was moved to the hangar for the a&P that will perform the annual (and now; repairs). After arriving home I received a call from the a&P scheduled to do the annual. He informed me that last year's annual was completed in june; and not july. I immediately realized that I had unknowingly flown the plane while out of annual. I had no idea that the annual was actually expired; as the entire purpose of flying the plane was to drop it off for its annual before the end of the month; and the plane was not returned from its annual last year until well into july; as it had been in years past. Though there were no outward indicators of a potential landing gear failure; had I known the plane was out of annual; I would have not flown the plane without a ferry permit. The process of obtaining a ferry permit may have identified a potential landing gear problem. Even if the gear failure would not have been noticed; and still occurred; at least the plane would have been flown under proper authorization. The corrective action would have been to obtain the log books and review them myself prior to the actual flight. My decision to fly based upon my perception and incorrect assumption that the plane was 'in annual' until the end of july; as in years past; rather than verifying that perception by inspection of the log books; caused me to fly a plane out of annual and without a ferry permit. I understand that the actual aircraft log books must be kept in a secure location so as to avoid possibility of loss. However; perhaps making photocopies of the last page for each engine's log book as well as the airframe and other relevant endorsements such as ELT; radios; transponder; etc...and keeping the copies in the plane with the poh would facilitate more frequent inspection of these items. At the very least; a simple sticker or post it note on the side of the dashboard with important inspection dates; such as annual; transponder; ELT; etc. Could assist others in avoiding my mistake.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A PA-34 pilot unknowingly flew the aircraft to have an annual inspection after the annual expired. During landing preparation the nose gear indicated unsafe although ATC confirmed it down. The nose gear collapsed on landing. Later; the Mechanic performing the annual informed the pilot that the annual had expired the previous month.

Narrative: For many years the annual on my friend's Seneca III has been done every July. Last year; as usual; the plane was returned from its annual sometime in July. As I am an approved pilot on the plane; and the end of July was only days away; I flew the plane to drop it off for its annual. Upon approaching the pattern for landing I received an unsafe gear warning on the panel and only 'two greens' of the three landing gear indicator lights; with the nose gear light not lighting. After several cycles of the gear and additional gear troubleshooting I notified the Tower of the situation. The Tower suggested a fly by for visual inspection; which I did. The Tower reported full gear down; with no 90 degrees for the nose wheel. The Tower cleared landing on Runway 24 and dispatched emergency crews 'just in case.' Landing occurred and the nose wheel collapsed; damaging the nose of the plane as it skidded down the runway to a resting stop. The plane was moved to the hangar for the A&P that will perform the annual (and now; repairs). After arriving home I received a call from the A&P scheduled to do the annual. He informed me that last year's annual was completed in June; and not July. I immediately realized that I had unknowingly flown the plane while out of annual. I had no idea that the annual was actually expired; as the entire purpose of flying the plane was to drop it off for its annual before the end of the month; and the plane was not returned from its annual last year until well into July; as it had been in years past. Though there were no outward indicators of a potential landing gear failure; had I known the plane was out of annual; I would have not flown the plane without a ferry permit. The process of obtaining a Ferry Permit may have identified a potential landing gear problem. Even if the gear failure would not have been noticed; and still occurred; at least the plane would have been flown under proper authorization. The corrective action would have been to obtain the log books and review them myself prior to the actual flight. My decision to fly based upon my perception and incorrect assumption that the plane was 'in annual' until the end of July; as in years past; rather than verifying that perception by inspection of the log books; caused me to fly a plane out of annual and without a Ferry Permit. I understand that the actual aircraft log books must be kept in a secure location so as to avoid possibility of loss. However; perhaps making photocopies of the last page for each engine's log book as well as the airframe and other relevant endorsements such as ELT; radios; transponder; etc...and keeping the copies in the plane with the POH would facilitate more frequent inspection of these items. At the very least; a simple sticker or post it note on the side of the dashboard with important inspection dates; such as annual; transponder; ELT; etc. could assist others in avoiding my mistake.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.