Accident Overview
On a local training flight, an airplane departed Belo Horizonte-Pampulha-Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport at 1420 local time with two pilots and one passenger on board. After approximately 30 minutes of flight, the crew returned to the airport and initiated an approach to runway 13 for a touch-and-go maneuver. During the final approach, the crew failed to lower the landing gear, resulting in a belly landing.
Sequence of Events
The airplane slid for several hundred meters, overran the runway, breached the perimeter fence by striking concrete poles, and came to rest against trees, broken in two. The copilot, aged 76, was killed, while the other two occupants sustained injuries.
Probable Cause
According to the official investigation, the probable cause is attributed to several contributing factors:
- Attention – undetermined. It is possible that the aircraft’s encounter with a kite led to a delayed and imprecise response to operational cues, which may have resulted in a breakdown in the alert and distraction management system, specifically regarding landing gear extension.
- Attitude – undetermined. Conducting the flight with an unqualified pilot reflected the adoption of inappropriate attitudes such as complacency, overconfidence, and disregard for the requirements established in RBACs 91 and 61, which may have contributed to this accident.
- Crew Resource Management – a contributor. Inefficient use of the human resources available for the aircraft operation led to inadequate task management among the crew. The PIC never questioned the aircraft’s readiness for landing, and the pilot occupying the right seat failed to monitor the aircraft configuration or assertively advise on the landing gear position for touchdown.
- Perception – a contributor. During the approach, the aural warning indicating that the landing gear was still retracted was activated and could be heard on the CVR audio. However, the pilots took no corrective action, evidencing impaired ability to recognize and interpret internal environmental cues, which led to reduced situational awareness and culminated in a gear up landing.
- Limited pilot’s experience – undetermined. Considering the PIC’s operational background, developed almost entirely in rotary wing aviation, it is possible that his limited experience with fixed-wing aircraft had not yet enabled him to acquire the full range of skills and knowledge necessary for the safe operation of Learjet 35 flights.