What happened
On February 5, 2004, a Beechcraft BE55, registration EC-CDH, was conducting a dual-instruction flight at Salamanca Airport. The flight, operated by Adventia, carried an instructor and two students. The mission involved an instrument flight training program.
During the return to the airport, the crew performed an instrument approach to runway 21. While the student pilot was acting as the pilot flying, the instructor noted that the aircraft was struggling to maintain the glide slope, requiring verbal corrections. As the aircraft reached the touchdown zone and the throttles were retarded for landing, the landing gear warning horn activated, indicating the gear was not secured. The instructor immediately took control of the aircraft and executed a go-around. The aircraft subsequently completed a second landing attempt without further incident.
Although there were 0 fatalities, the aircraft sustained damage to the tips of both propellers due to the initial failed landing attempt.
The investigation
The CIAIAC examined the crew's actions and the aircraft's systems. The investigation focused on why the landing gear warning horn sounded despite the crew's claim that they had performed the landing checklist. The investigation considered three primary possibilities:
- The student pilot may have overlooked the landing gear item while simultaneously managing flight path corrections to stay on the glide slope.
- The checklist may have been performed from memory rather than by physically verifying each item.
- The gear deployment lever may have been operated too late, leaving the gear in transit when the power was reduced.
Because the aircraft landed successfully on the second attempt, the investigation ruled out a mechanical failure of the landing gear system.
Findings
- The crew failed to ensure the landing gear was fully extended and locked prior to the landing attempt.
- The primary cause was a crew error during the execution of the landing configuration procedures, which prevented the gear from being fully secured before the aircraft reached the runway.