Cessna 310 Gear-Up Landing at Malelane Aerodrome (ZS-EPL)

Accident Overview and Aircraft Details On 4 December 2000 at 1415Z, a Cessna 310 with registration ZS-EPL was involved in an accident at Malelane Aerodrome. The aircraft was owned by Capital Plant Hire and was being operated as a private flight. The pilot-in-command held an Airline Transport licence and had a total of 12,046.0 flying hours, including 37.7 hours on type. The pilot was 53 years old, and the licence was valid at the time of the accident. ## Flight Operations and Sequence of Events The pilot was accompanied by one passenger during the flight. The aircraft departed from Malelane and was intended to land at Malelane TSB Airport. During the flight, the pilot performed a touch-and-go landing with power off on Runway 27 at Malelane Airport. After taking off, the pilot decided to execute another touch-and-go and continued with a 500-foot circuit. The pilot intended to execute the next landing with a slight amount of power on to observe the effect on the nose attitude of the aircraft upon touchdown. ## Accident Description The pilot stated that attention was distracted on downwind, resulting in the failure to select the landing gear down. A landing without the landing gear being extended followed. The accident occurred at Malelane Aerodrome. ## Casualties and Weather Conditions No injuries or fatalities were reported among the two people on board. The meteorological conditions at the time of the accident were described as fine.