History of the Flight
The aircraft, a 1974 Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow II (registration G-ELUT), departed on a private cross-country flight from Goodwood to Old Sarum. Weather was good with no cloud and visibility greater than 10 km. The pilot joined the Old Sarum circuit by descending on the deadside and joining on the crosswind leg for a right-hand circuit to Runway 24 (grass). While established downwind, the pilot carried out downwind checks but forgot to lower the landing gear. One aircraft was ahead in the circuit and the pilot was aware of another behind. On final approach, the pilot performed final checks—fuel pump on, landing light on, propeller rpm full forward, full flaps—but omitted to check for three green landing gear down-and-locked lights. The aircraft ahead had landed and vacated the runway.
At about 50 feet, the pilot heard “go round” over the radio, followed by another call of “go round, go round”. Believing the calls were for the aircraft behind him, he checked the runway—it was clear—and proceeded to land. The aircraft touched down on its belly, slid across the grass, then left the runway to the right before coming to rest. The pilot and passenger exited normally; there was no fire.
Report from the Airfield Radio Operator
The radio operator on duty in the tower reported a busy day. He heard G-ELUT report on final, but when he looked up and saw no visible landing gear legs, the aircraft was very close to the ground. He called “go round” and repeated it, but the aircraft was only 30 feet from touchdown. He noted that if he had had another 10 seconds, he could have looked at his data strip for the registration and said “uniform tango go round”. He also stated that when aware of a retractable-gear aircraft in the circuit, he looks for the landing gear on final; in this case, he was not aware G-ELUT had retractable gear because the full type designation PA-28R-200 was not given in the pilot’s initial call.
Discussion
The accident occurred as a result of the pilot omitting to lower the landing gear and forgetting to check for three green down-and-locked lights. An opportunity to avoid the accident was missed when the pilot believed that the go-round call from the radio operator did not apply to his aircraft. However, responsibility for ensuring the landing gear is down and locked rests with the commander of the aircraft.
The aircraft’s automatic gear extension system had been disabled, and the pilot did not recall hearing the gear warning horn. The pilot stated that his normal practice was to say “three greens” over the radio when making his final call, but on this occasion he omitted that check as well. Routinely saying “three greens” can serve as a reminder to the pilot and also alerts the radio operator or tower controller that the aircraft has retractable landing gear, allowing them to visually check that the gear is extended, workload permitting.