What happened
On 24 June 2012, a Europa aircraft, registration G-OJHL, was performing touch-and-go circuits at Cumbernauld Airport in North Lanarkshire under favorable weather conditions. During the flight, the pilot decided to execute a practice forced landing (PFL) followed by a go-around. This maneuver involved flying a shortened circuit.
As the pilot approached the final stage of the flight, they were high on the final approach. To decrease the aircraft's altitude, the pilot performed a sideslip. During this process, the pilot did not deploy the single control responsible for lowering both the flaps and the mono wheel landing gear at the conclusion of the shortened downwind leg. Consequently, the aircraft landed without the gear extended, resulting in damage to the propeller, the cowling, and the wheel tunnel. There were no injuries to the pilot or the passenger.
The investigation
The investigation examined the pilot's actions and the cockpit environment. It was noted that the pilot did not check the landing gear status at the start of the final approach, which deviated from their standard operating procedure. The investigation also looked into why the pilot did not notice the change in pitch attitude that typically occurs when flaps are extended on this aircraft type.
Two specific factors contributed to the oversight: the pilot's requirement to sideslip the aircraft to reduce height, and the fact that the pilot was wearing an active noise reduction headset. This headset prevented the pilot from hearing the cockpit's aural warning, which indicates that the gear has not been lowered.
Findings
- The pilot failed to extend the landing gear and flaps during the shortened circuit.
- The pilot's use of a sideslip to manage altitude distracted from the gear extension check.
- The use of active noise reduction headsets prevented the pilot from hearing the aural landing gear warning.