Accident Overview
On October 30, 2009, at about 15:29 Japan Standard Time, a Beechcraft A36, registered JA4165, operated by the Independent Administrative Institution Civil Aviation College, belly-landed on the runway of Kagoshima Airport. The aircraft was conducting solo flight training with one student pilot on board. The pilot was not injured, and there was no fire.
Flight History
The aircraft departed Kumamoto Airport at approximately 14:47 for solo navigation training, with a planned route via Yatsushiro, Akune, and Kamou to Kagoshima Airport. The flight was conducted under visual flight rules. The student pilot had planned to land at Kagoshima Airport before returning to Miyazaki Airport.
According to the student's statement, he entered a left downwind leg for runway 34 at about 1,900 feet and 110–120 knots. He extended the landing gear around the base turn. The air traffic controller instructed him to make a short approach due to a following aircraft. Although short approaches were prohibited by the college's training procedures for solo flights, the student complied, believing there was no problem given the distance from the preceding aircraft. He later understood the instruction was due to two aircraft waiting on a taxiway.
During the final approach, the student performed the 200-foot procedure and extended the flaps to full-down. He recalled completing the 3 Green checks (landing gear down and locked) on three occasions: after gear extension, during the landing checklist, and during the 200-foot procedure. However, the aircraft did not touch down normally; it descended slightly and then scraped along the runway on its belly.
Pilot and Witness Statements
The student reported that he had no memory of hearing the landing gear warning horn or seeing the gear-up annunciator. After the aircraft stopped, he noted the landing gear selector lever was in the Down position and moved it to Up to prevent gear extension. He also shut off the fuel selector, mixture, magnetos, alternator, and master battery switch.
An eyewitness on a taxiing aircraft reported seeing the aircraft approach the runway with its landing gear not extended. He observed the belly landing and felt nothing unusual about its approach attitude.
The air traffic controller stated that he instructed the aircraft to make a short approach and later saw it stopped with an abnormal attitude, prompting him to close the runway. He had no memory of whether the landing gear was extended.
Aircraft Damage
The aircraft sustained substantial damage to its lower fuselage from contact with the runway. No fire broke out. The accident did not result in injuries to the pilot.