What happened
On the evening of August 14, 2003, an aircraft landing occurred at Cancun International Airport in Mexico involving a Gates Learjet 35A, registration N403FW. The aircraft, operated by Air America Flight Services, Inc., was performing a positioning flight under instrument flight rules from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida. During the approach to runway 12, the flightcrew was cleared for a visual approach.
While the cockpit indicators showed the landing gear as down and locked, the aircraft made contact with the runway surface with the landing gear retracted. The impact caused the aircraft to slide roughly 4,000 feet along the runway before coming to a stop in an upright position. The crew reported feeling the fuselage scrape against the pavement. Following the incident, the nose landing gear was found to be inside the wheel well, and while emergency extension was attempted, the main gear could not deploy due to the initial fuselage contact.
There were no injuries reported among the four occupants, which included the pilot, the copilot, and three medical personnel. The aircraft sustained substantial damage during the event.
Findings
Investigation into the incident noted that although the three green lights indicated the gear was down and locked, the crew could not confirm if the landing lights were active, which might have indicated gear extension. The primary factor in the accident was the failure to properly extend the landing gear prior to touchdown.