What happened
During a routine training mission departing from RAF St Athan, an aircraft was involved in a landing accident at RAF Chivenole. While the flight proceeded without incident during its initial stages, the crew performed a belly landing upon arrival at the destination. Following the impact with the runway, the aircraft slid for a short distance before coming to a complete stop.
The incident resulted in the aircraft being declared a total loss due to damage sustained during the touchdown. Despite the severity of the impact, there were no injuries reported among the two pilots on board.
Findings
Investigations into the accident determined that the primary reason for the landing gear failure was pilot error. Specifically, the crew incorrectly retracted the landing gear during the approach phase instead of deploying the flaps as required.