On March 5, 1982, a Beech B58 (registration N18320) operated by Jack H. Cox was involved in an aviation accident near Hot Springs, AR. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain situational awareness and complete the pre-landing checklist, specifically lowering the landing gear, due to distraction from another aircraft in the traffic pattern. This summary draws on records from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) historical archive.
A pilot on final approach to Memorial Airport forgot to lower his landing gear after becoming distracted by another aircraft's radio announcement.
What happened
The incident occurred while the aircraft was established on final approach to Memorial Airport. During this phase of flight, the pilot heard a radio transmission from another pilot announcing that they were turning right base leg for landing on the active runway.
This communication caused the pilot to become distracted as he searched visually for the other aircraft in the traffic pattern. In the process of looking for the conflicting traffic, the pilot failed to complete his landing checklist and forgot to lower the landing gear. The airport tower was not operational at the time, meaning there was no air traffic control guidance available to assist with sequencing or safety alerts.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading up to the touchdown. It was determined that the primary factor was a lapse in situational awareness and checklist discipline. The pilot's attention was diverted from critical flight tasks to visual acquisition of another aircraft, resulting in the omission of a basic pre-landing item.
Findings
The contributing factors included:
Pilot distraction caused by monitoring radio traffic for other aircraft
Failure to lower the landing gear during final approach
Non-operational tower services at the airport
Lack of external cues to remind the pilot of pending checklist items
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain situational awareness and complete the pre-landing checklist, specifically lowering the landing gear, due to distraction from another aircraft in the traffic pattern.