What happened
During the final approach, an aircraft was observed to have its landing gear in the retracted position. Upon exiting the aircraft, the pilot noted that the landing gear was sagging against the runway surface. Despite the appearance of the gear, an inspection revealed no damage to the tyres, main landing gear legs, or the nose landing gear doors, suggesting the gear was fully up at the moment of touchdown.
As the aircraft descended, the pilot reduced engine power to idle at an altitude of approximately 50 to 100 feet, gliding the aircraft to the runway. During this phase, the propeller control was found to be roughly 5 cm away from the required high RPM setting, a position more typical of cruise or initial approach rather than a final approach configuration.
The investigation
The investigation focused on why the landing gear remained retracted and why the pilot was unaware of the configuration. Investigators found that the propeller control setting indicated that the pre-landing and final approach checklists had likely been bypassed. Furthermore, the pilot reported that the landing gear warning system failed to provide an audible alert. It was determined that the use of a noise-cancelling headset by the pilot may have prevented the warning tone from being heard.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was the failure to complete the pre-landing and final approach checklists, which resulted in the aircraft landing with the gear up.
- The operator lacked documented procedures specifying a required distance from the airport at which pre-landing checklists must be initiated.
- There was no documented requirement for the completion of the final approach check.
- The landing gear warning system did not successfully alert the pilot, potentially due to the interference of a noise-cancelling headset.