What happened
On October 7, 2014, a Grumman Cougar GA-7, registration N738G, was conducting a dual instruction flight for an instrument rating (IR-ME and MEP) when it experienced a landing gear incident at Troyes aerodrome. The flight originated from Lognes aerodrome. During the approach to runway 17, the crew was simulating an engine failure on one of the two engines using an ILS approach. During the final approach, the instructor instructed the pilot to execute a go-around. The pilot continued the circuit on a single engine and subsequently landed the aircraft with the landing gear in the retracted position. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway, sustaining heavy damage.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the crew's actions and the aircraft's warning systems. The pilot, a professional with 3,750 total flight hours, admitted to forgetting to extend the landing gear. He noted that although the flight was conducted under visual meteorological conditions (VMC), the complexity of the IFR procedures caused significant concentration, which may have led to a lapse in attention as the flight neared completion.
The instructor, an experienced airline pilot with over 26,000 flight hours, stated that he relied on the pilot's verbal confirmation that the aircraft was configured for landing and did not independently verify the gear position.
The aircraft is equipped with three amber lights to indicate gear movement and three green lights to indicate the gear is locked down. An audible alarm is designed to sound if the gear is not locked and the flaps are extended beyond 15 degrees or if engine power is reduced below a specific threshold. The pilot did not recall hearing this alarm, while the instructor suggested the alarm might have been sounding continuously due to the simulated engine failure but noted its volume is relatively low.