Incident Overview
On Tuesday, 27 November 2001, at 15:15 hours, a Piper PA-23-250 aircraft, registration EC-GLA, was conducting touch-and-go landings at the aerodrome of Casarrubios del Monte (Toledo) as part of a dual instruction flight. On board were a student pilot and an instructor. During one landing, the aircraft's propellers contacted the ground, resulting in damage to the propellers and the right flap and step. Both occupants were uninjured and evacuated the aircraft unaided.
Flight Sequence
According to the instructor's statement, the aircraft was on the downwind leg for runway 08 when the before-landing checklist was performed. Passing over the runway 08 threshold, the pilot selected 1/4 flaps and was about to lower the landing gear when they noticed traffic very close to their aircraft that was not part of the circuit. The instructor took control, immediately turned onto the base leg to avoid the traffic, and simultaneously selected full flaps. During the flare, an aircraft at the holding point for takeoff signaled that the landing gear was not extended. The instructor stated that no prior warning of gear-up indication had been perceived in the cockpit.
Emergency Landing
Upon realizing the gear was not down, the instructor raised the nose and smoothly added power. At that moment, a metallic noise was heard from the right side, leading to the assumption that the right propeller had struck the ground. Engine parameters were checked and found normal, with no abnormal vibrations. The instructor then declared an emergency and performed a 180-degree turn to land on runway 26. The landing gear was lowered and extended correctly for this final landing.
Conclusions
The investigation concluded that the most probable cause of the incident was that the landing gear control had not been actuated to order its extension during the previous landing maneuver on runway 08. The gear subsequently extended properly for the emergency landing on runway 26, supporting this finding.