What happened
The pilot was conducting an approach with the landing gear extended for landing. While on final approach, he observed another aircraft ahead of him that he perceived as being overtaken by his own aircraft. In response to this situation, the pilot elected to execute a go-around procedure.
During the climb-out phase, while the aircraft was established on the downwind leg, the pilot attempted to extend the landing gear. However, due to distraction, he inadvertently retracted the gear instead. The pilot later stated that he was unable to hear the landing gear warning horn because he was wearing a headset at the time.
The aircraft subsequently landed without the landing gear deployed, resulting in a gear-up landing event.
The investigation
Post-accident examination confirmed that the landing gear was retracted during the final approach and landing phase. The pilot's statement indicated that the error was caused by an absent-minded action while attempting to extend the gear during the go-around maneuver.
Findings
The primary contributing factors to this incident were:
- The pilot's distraction during a critical phase of flight (go-around)
- Failure to monitor the landing gear warning horn due to headset use
- Inadvertent retraction of the landing gear instead of extension
These actions resulted in the aircraft contacting the runway surface with the landing gear retracted.