No fatalities

Pilot Reports Gear-Up Landing After Flap Sequencing Error

Bloomington, IN, United States

On August 9, 2011, a CESSNA TR182 operated by BMG AVIATION INC was involved in an aviation accident near Bloomington, IN. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear prior to landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 13 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot practicing takeoffs and landings performed a gear-up landing after lowering flaps before landing gear, becoming fixated on airspeed, and failing to complete the before-landing checklist. The airplane sustained substantial fuselage damage.

Accident Details

The pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings in the traffic pattern when the accident occurred. According to the pilot's report, he did not follow his normal routine of lowering the landing gear prior to extending the wing flaps while on the downwind leg. Instead, he lowered the flaps first. At that time, the pilot noticed that the airspeed was low. He stated that he subsequently became fixated on maintaining airspeed and did not notice that the landing gear was not extended. Additionally, he did not complete a before-landing checklist. The pilot noted that there were no failures or malfunctions associated with the airplane prior to the accident.

Damage

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage during the gear-up landing. The extent of damage was limited to the fuselage; other components were not reported as damaged.

Pilot Actions

The pilot explicitly reported that the gear-up landing resulted from his deviation from his established procedures, specifically the order of gear and flap extension, and his subsequent fixation on airspeed. He also acknowledged the omission of the before-landing checklist, which would have included verifying landing gear extension.

Contributing factors

Pilot