No fatalities

Pilot Lands with Retracted Landing Gear After Aborted Approach

Lake Tahoe, CA, United States

On October 21, 2012, a PIPER PA24 250 operated by Scott Dineen was involved in an aviation accident near Lake Tahoe, CA. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to ensure that the landing gear was extended before 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 reported landing with retracted landing gear after an aborted landing due to traffic, stating he failed to extend the gear and did not use the checklist.

Incident Summary

The pilot of an airplane executed a landing with the landing gear in the retracted position, resulting in substantial damage to the undercarriage. The event followed an earlier aborted landing due to traffic on the active runway, during which the pilot had retracted the landing gear.

Pilot Statement

According to the pilot's report, on the second approach he carried power because of gusty wind conditions. During the landing flare, he realized that he had not extended the landing gear. He added full power after this realization, but the airplane impacted the runway with the gear still retracted. The pilot stated that he did not follow the checklist and did not hear the landing gear warning horn during the approach. When informed that the throttle position required to activate the warning horn was only about half an inch beyond the full aft idle position, the pilot indicated that he had not retarded the throttle that far.

Damage

The airplane sustained substantial damage to its undercarriage as a result of the abnormal runway contact. No other damage or injuries were reported.

Contributing factors

Not used/operatedPilot