No fatalities

Instructor and Student Distracted During Landing, Resulting in Gear-Up Landing

Palatka, FL, United States

On July 10, 2019, a Diamond DA 42 NG Undesignat operated by Phoenix East Aviation was involved in an aviation accident near Palatka, FL. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot receiving instruction's failure to extend the landing gear and the flight instructor's failure to verify that the landing gear was extended due to distraction, which resulted in a gear-up landing. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 17 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1785761257Data APIEditorial standards

A flight instructor and student pilot, distracted during discussion, failed to extend the landing gear, resulting in a gear-up landing that damaged both engine gear boxes.

Incident Overview

A flight instructor in a multi-engine, retractable landing gear-equipped airplane reported that the pilot receiving instruction was on the controls during landing. The student pilot had been feeling fatigue and motion sickness due to light turbulence encountered in the traffic pattern. During their discussion of these factors, both pilots became distracted and failed to complete the landing checklist. Consequently, the airplane was not configured for landing, and the landing gear remained retracted when the airplane touched down.

Damage Assessment

The airplane sustained substantial damage to both engine gear boxes as a result of the gear-up landing. The flight instructor noted that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Contributing Factors

The distraction caused by the discussion regarding the student's fatigue and motion sickness led to the omission of the landing checklist and failure to extend the landing gear. No other factors were reported.

Contributing factors

Not used/operatedStudent/instructed pilotInstructor/check pilot