Incident Overview
During a positioning flight to a nearby airport for flap examination, a multiengine turbine-powered airplane experienced an accident when the pilot forgot to lower the landing gear. The aircraft contacted the runway during landing, slid to a stop about 2,500 feet beyond the runway's beginning, and sustained substantial damage to the left wing from a fire caused by a fuel bladder leak.
Sequence of Events
The pilot performed the landing checklist and extended the landing gear about 7 miles from the destination airport. After contacting the control tower, he was advised he was number two to land and received a vector for sequencing. Approximately four minutes later, the pilot was instructed to turn toward the airport and was cleared to land.
During preparations for a no-flap landing, the pilot forgot that he had retracted the landing gear and had not subsequently lowered it. On landing flare, the control tower called out "gear," prompting an abort attempt. However, the aircraft contacted the runway and slid to a stop.
A fuel bladder leak resulted in a fire in the area of the left engine nacelle, causing substantial damage to the left wing.
Pilot Statements and Systems
The pilot stated he did not hear a landing gear warning horn before the accident. According to the airplane flight manual, the landing gear warning activates intermittently with the gear not down below a certain power setting. Postaccident damage precluded a functional check of the warning system. The pilot reported using additional power during the no-flap landing but could not recall the specific power setting. He had about 12,600 hours of total flight experience, including about 955 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane.