No fatalities

22 Nov 2008: CESSNA T210M — A Lee Souttere — Hanford, CA

Hanford, CA, United States

On 22 Nov 2008, a CESSNA T210M operated by A Lee Souttere was involved in an aviation accident near Hanford, CA. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The failure of the pilot to use the before-landing checklist and extend the landing gear prior to landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot made a gear-up landing after forgetting to verify three green landing gear lights during the before landing checklist, resulting in substantial damage to the lower fuselage. The pilot reported no aircraft anomalies.

Incident Summary

A pilot executed a landing with the landing gear retracted after omitting a critical step in the before landing checklist. The pilot reported that while on a right downwind to runway 32, he completed the before landing checklist from memory but forgot to call out "three green," indicating that all three landing gear were down and locked. He touched down about one-third of the way down the runway and came to rest in an upright position at approximately the midfield point.

Pilot's Statement

When asked whether he heard the gear warning horn before touchdown, the pilot stated that he did not because he was wearing his headset. The pilot reported that no anomalies existed with the airplane prior to or during the flight, suggesting that the gear-up landing was due to human error rather than a mechanical malfunction. He acknowledged that he inadvertently skipped the gear-down verification step during his memory-driven checklist.

Aircraft Damage

An airframe and power plant mechanic examined the airplane and reported substantial damage to the lower fuselage. No other damage items were specified.

Contributing factors

PilotNot used/operated