What happened
The aircraft initially made contact with the runway surface using only the main landing gear. Following this initial touchdown, the aircraft experienced a bounce. During the subsequent phase of the landing sequence, the airplane touched down again on the runway surface. At the time of this second impact, all three pieces of landing gear were fully retracted into their respective wells, and the associated gear doors remained in the closed position.
The investigation
Investigators conducted a thorough examination of the aircraft following the incident. They specifically looked for any evidence of electrical failures, mechanical malfunctions, or hydraulic system issues that might have caused the gear to retract unexpectedly. No such faults were identified during the inspection. Furthermore, the landing gear system was subjected to ground operational tests. These tests confirmed that the system functioned normally and did not exhibit any erratic behavior or failure modes.
Findings
The primary finding relates to the unexpected retraction of the landing gear during the landing phase. The investigation revealed no evidence of a pre-existing mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic defect that would explain the gear movement. The normal operation of the system during ground tests suggests that the event was likely related to pilot input or a transient anomaly not captured by static testing.