What happened
Air traffic controllers monitoring the approach noted that the aircraft was positioned on short final for landing with its landing gear in the retracted position. Controllers made multiple attempts to establish radio contact with the pilot to alert them of the configuration discrepancy, but received no response from the cockpit.
Following the incident, the pilot provided a statement acknowledging that he had failed to extend the landing gear prior to initiating the landing sequence. This admission confirmed the visual observation made by ground personnel during the final approach phase.
The investigation
A thorough mechanical examination of the aircraft was conducted to determine if equipment failure contributed to the event. Investigators found no evidence to indicate any pre-accident failure or malfunction of the landing gear operating system. The mechanical components appeared functional, pointing toward human error rather than a technical defect as the primary factor.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the root cause was the pilot's omission of a critical checklist item. The failure to extend the landing gear was not due to a system malfunction but rather an oversight by the flight crew during the pre-landing phase.