What happened
A Beech 58 performed a wheels-up landing on runway 16 at Palwaukee Municipal Airport in Wheeling, Illinois. The pilot was cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 16 and was instructed to notify the tower when two miles from the field. After maneuvering to line up with the runway, the pilot began a slow descent toward traffic pattern altitude.
Approximately 3.5 miles from the airport, the tower issued clearance for landing. While attempting to begin the pre-landing checklist, the pilot became distracted by an audible alert. The pilot initially mistook the sound of the gear warning horn for collision avoidance equipment. During this time, the pilot was also observing other aircraft appearing approximately 1.5 miles away. As a result of these distractions, the pilot failed to complete the pre-landing checklist and the standard GUMPS check.
The aircraft subsequently landed with its landing gear retracted in the center of the runway. The plane slid for a short distance before coming to a stop half off the left side of runway 16. No airport lights were struck during the excursion.