What happened
On 5 September 2000, a Piper PA-23-250, registration G-BGTG, was conducting a private flight from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man. During the approach to Runway 26, the pilot was instructed by Air Traffic Control to maintain a tight circuit to allow for following commercial traffic. The pilot followed standard checklist procedures and initiated the approach with full flaps at a speed of 85 knots, with the PAPI indicators showing a stable 3-degree glide path.
As the aircraft flared for touchdown and the throttles were closed, the pilot heard an audible warning. The aircraft subsequently made contact with the runway on its belly and drifted slightly left of the centerline before stopping. All five occupants, including the pilot and four passengers, evacuated the aircraft via the main door and emergency windows without injury. The landing resulted in damage to the propellers, belly skin panels, and one tyre.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the configuration of the aircraft's landing gear at the moment of impact. Upon inspection, the landing gear was found to be in the fully retracted position, with the selector valve set to the mid position. The investigation noted that the Piper PA-23-250 utilizes a hydraulic power pack for gear operation, and the selector automatically returns to the mid position following a gear selection.
Investigators also examined the cockpit warning systems. While the stall warning and the landing gear unsafe warning share the same horn, they are distinguished by their patterns: the stall warning is intermittent, whereas the gear unsafe warning is a continuous tone accompanied by a flashing light on the gear handle. A subsequent functional test of the landing gear extension and retraction system revealed no mechanical or hydraulic faults.