What happened
On February 3, 2018, a Cessna T210N, registration OB-1899, operated by Servicios Aéreos Tarapoto E.I.R.L., was performing a scheduled passenger and cargo flight from San Lorenzo to Yurimaguas. While executing the final approach and landing on runway 09 at the Moisés Benzaqu．quén Rengifo Airport, the aircraft made contact with the runway with the landing gear in the retracted position. The impact caused the aircraft to slide along the runway on its fuselage belly until it came to a stop.
The pilot and five passengers were able to evacuate the aircraft on their own. There were no injuries reported among the occupants. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the engine, the propeller blades, and the lower portion of the fuselage.
The investigation
The investigation conducted by the CIAA established that the pilot was relatively inexperienced with this specific aircraft type, having flown only approximately 27 hours in the Cessna T210N in the preceding year, compared to nearly 500 hours in the fixed-gear Cessna C-206.
Investigators examined the cockpit systems and found that the landing gear audible warning alarm failed to activate during the approach. Specifically, a fault was identified in the Dual Warning System Gear unit. Furthermore, the investigation noted that the pilot's attention was diverted by environmental factors, including turbulence and the presence of birds on the final approach path, which led to the omission of critical landing configuration checklists.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the loss of situational awareness by the pilot, who was distracted by external factors, preventing the execution of proper landing configuration procedures.
- The pilot failed to complete the landing checklist and did not perform a visual cross-check of the green landing gear indicators.
- The failure of the landing gear audible warning system prevented the pilot from receiving an auditory alert regarding the gear position.
- The presence of birds on the approach path contributed to the pilot's distraction.
- The pilot's limited experience with retractable landing gear aircraft was a contributing factor.