What happened
On 27 June 2000, a Cessna F177RG, registration G-AYPG, was performing a private local flight when it attempted to land on Runway 09 at Haverfordwest Aerodrome. As the pilot approached the runway threshold, they observed that the landing gear had not been deployed.
In an attempt to rectify the situation, the pilot selected the landing gear down; however, the deployment process was not completed before the aircraft reached the runway. The aircraft made contact with the surface before the gear was fully locked, causing the lower fuselage to settle onto the runway. Following the impact, the aircraft came to a stop, but the Airfield Fire Service noted a fuel leak. Due to the left-side door jamming during the incident, the pilot had to exit the aircraft through the right-side passenger door.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of the landing gear deployment and the timing of the approach. The AAIB examined the pilot's actions regarding the gear selection and the subsequent touchdown. The investigation established that while the pilot recognized the gear was not down and initiated the down command, the time required for the gear to cycle into the locked position was underestimated.