Introduction
On March 10, 2011, about 1841 Pacific standard time, a Fairchild SA227-AC, registration N671AV, sustained substantial damage during a gear-up landing at Boeing Field King County International Airport (BFI), Seattle, Washington. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was registered to UAS Transervices Inc., Pasadena, California, and operated by Ameriflight Inc., Burbank, California, under Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the on-demand cargo flight. The cross-country flight originated from Lewiston, Idaho, at 1715 with an intended destination of BFI.
Flight Details
The pilot began his duty day at 0530 for a scheduled flight from BFI to Lewiston. Upon arriving at Lewiston, he was notified of an unscheduled flight back to BFI and a subsequent return to Lewiston. The pilot stated that this unscheduled trip "disrupted my normal sleep pattern." After returning to Lewiston in the afternoon, he began his normal scheduled afternoon flight from Lewiston to BFI. The flight was uneventful except for moderate turbulence over the Cascade mountain range. En route, the pilot obtained weather at BFI: wind from 210 degrees at 16 knots, gusting to 35 knots.
Pilot Report
The pilot reported that his first two landing attempts at BFI were aborted due to crosswinds and airspeed deviations of 30 knots. During his third approach, he was instructed by the air traffic control tower controller to follow a Cessna Citation on final for runway 13R. After reporting the traffic in sight, the pilot received landing clearance and was later told to "turn base early" due to another aircraft on approach. The pilot stated that the Citation "missed their runway turnoff" and he was told to make "S" turns for spacing. As the airplane descended to about 200 feet above ground level on final, the controller instructed a go-around. The pilot executed the go-around procedure, which included flaps to one-half and landing gear up. About 10 seconds later, the controller issued a landing clearance. The pilot stated that he "proceeded with my landing clearance, knowing that all check-lists have been completed, and I was in a normal position to land. There is no gear warning system with flaps 1/2 and no call outs or check-lists to indicate my gear had been retracted." Subsequently, the airplane landed gear up on runway 13R and came to rest upright in a safety area between runway 13R and 13L just south of alpha 7 taxiway.
Aircraft Examination
Review of the pilot training manual for the Fairchild SA227-AC revealed that a landing gear warning horn will sound if either power lever is retarded to flight idle or the flaps are lowered slightly beyond one-half when the landing gear is not in the down and locked position. Examination of the airplane by company maintenance personnel and a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed structural damage to both engine firewalls and the aft fuselage bulkhead. Following recovery, the airplane was placed on jack stands. Power was applied and the landing gear system actuated to both up and down positions with no mechanical anomalies noted.