What happened
On Sunday, March 18, 2001, a private flight involving a Braendli BX 2 (registration F-PCHB) ended in a gear-up landing at Cahors aerodrome. The aircraft was arriving from Montauban and was performing a crosswind approach on runway 13. During the final approach, the pilot elected not to extend the flaps due to the prevailing crosswind conditions. Consequently, the aircraft touched down with the landing gear in the retracted position.
The impact caused damage to the propeller and the nose gear door. The pilot, who was also the builder of the aircraft, reported being heavily focused on managing the aircraft's trajectory amidst the crosswind.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the pilot's cockpit procedures and the aircraft's warning systems. It was established that the pilot did not utilize a landing checklist during the approach. Furthermore, investigators examined the configuration of the aircraft's cockpit alerts.
Findings
The primary cause of the incident was the failure to use a checklist for the landing sequence. This omission was compounded by the pilot's preoccupation with maintaining the flight path during the crosswind approach. Additionally, the investigation identified that the aircraft's audible "gear up" warning logic was inadequate, as the alarm only activated when the flaps were extended and the throttle was at idle, which did not provide timely notification in this specific flight configuration.