Accident Overview
On 22 February 1998 at 1930 UTC, a Cessna 410 (registration N425TV) operating a private flight experienced a gear-up landing during a night ILS approach to Aberdeen Airport. The aircraft sustained propeller damage from contact with the runway surface. The sole pilot and three passengers were uninjured.
Incident Narrative
While intercepting the glideslope, the pilot completed his landing checks but inadvertently failed to extend the landing gear. Noticing the approach was faster than expected, he attributed this to the aircraft being unusually light. When the landing gear warning horn activated, the pilot switched it off, reasoning that the lower weight explained the higher speed.
As the propellers touched the runway, the pilot immediately raised the nose, applied power, lowered the landing gear, and executed a relanding. During the subsequent rollout, the aircraft departed the side of the runway. The left main landing gear became bogged down in soft ground.
Pilot Report
The pilot held an FAA Commercial Pilot's Licence and was 46 years old. His total flying hours were unknown, but he had 453 hours on the Cessna 410, with 67 hours in the last 90 days and 26 hours in the last 28 days. He attributed the accident to his failure to use a written checklist and to a distraction caused by an annoying buzz on his audio system, which had started approximately 40 minutes before the accident.
Damage
Both propellers sustained foreign object damage (FOD) from the runway contact, and both engines were damaged as a result.