No fatalities

Gear-Up Landing After Radio Failure

Kansas City, MO, United States

On March 29, 2011, a PIPER PA-24-260 was involved in an aviation accident near Kansas City, MO. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear for a landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot performed a gear-up landing after a radio failure, receiving a light gun signal to land. Witnesses observed the gear-up landing, resulting in substantial fuselage damage.

Flight and Radio Failure

The pilot was conducting a routine flight to the destination airport. During the flight, he experienced a radio failure. In response, he set his transponder to indicate the loss of radio communication.

Landing

Upon arrival, the pilot received a light gun signal from the airport, directing him to land. He proceeded with the landing approach. The pilot reported that he could not confirm that the landing gear was extended.

Witnesses observed the airplane touching down with its landing gear retracted, resulting in a gear-up landing.

Damage and Recovery

The airplane sustained substantial damage to its fuselage during the gear-up landing. After the incident, the aircraft was recovered from the runway. Subsequent inspection revealed that the landing gear operated normally when tested.

Contributing factors

Not used/operatedPilot