Accident Details
On July 30, 2001, at 11:59 local time, a Mooney M20J, registration EC-FFJ, landed on runway 13 at Sabadell Airport (Barcelona) without its landing gear extended. The pilot, a 19-year-old student with 164 total flight hours (31 on type), was conducting a solo instructional flight. During the landing phase, the pilot failed to extend the landing gear, causing the aircraft to contact the runway on its lower fuselage. The aircraft slid approximately 150 meters along the runway and came to a stop 500 meters from the threshold.
Airport services had to intervene to remove the aircraft after the runway was closed to traffic. There were no injuries to persons. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, affecting the entire lower fuselage area, propeller, and engine.
Aircraft Information
The Mooney M20J is equipped with a landing gear warning system. According to the aircraft flight manual, the system includes color-coded lights: green for gear down and locked, red for unsafe condition. An audible warning activates in the cockpit when the throttle is between 13 and 15 inches of manifold pressure and the gear is not locked down. Additionally, a visual indicator on the back of the fuel selector shows alignment marks when the gear is down.
Conclusions
The investigation concluded that such occurrences result from errors in applying the established landing procedure, generally due to the pilot not verifying that the landing gear was fully extended and locked.