No fatalities

Pilot Lands Gear-Up After ATC-Requested Pattern Change

Salt Lake City, UT, United States

On November 23, 2013, a NEW PIPER PA46 350P 350P was involved in an aviation accident near Salt Lake City, UT. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear before landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's improper use of the checklist. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 7 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 2026-08-03Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot landed with the landing gear retracted after deviating from his usual traffic pattern due to an ATC request, causing substantial damage to the fuselage.

Incident Overview

The pilot of a single-engine airplane reported that air traffic control (ATC) instructed him to enter a right base leg, crossing in front of a passenger jet that was on final approach to another runway. The pilot accepted this option and stated that he did not feel rushed; however, the deviation from his typical traffic pattern entry interrupted his checklist usage. As a result, he failed to extend the landing gear.

Landing and Damage

The airplane subsequently touched down with the landing gear retracted, leading to a gear-up landing. This caused substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Pilot Statement

The pilot indicated that the interruption from his routine pattern entry and checklist procedures led to the omission of the gear extension step. He did not report any other contributing factors.

Contributing factors

PilotNot used/operated