What happened
On August 15, 1968, a Beech B 95 Travel Air, registration HB-GCA, was performing a ferry flight from Zurich Kloten to Lugano. The flight was conducted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) without incident. Upon arriving at Lugano Airfield, the pilot executed a normal landing on the paved runway with the flaps set to the maximum position.
After the aircraft had taxied for a short distance, the pilot attempted to retract the flaps before applying the wheel brakes. During this process, the pilot mistakenly operated the landing gear selector instead of the flap lever. Although the pilot immediately attempted to return the lever to the down position, the gear mechanism remained unlocked. While the full retraction sequence had not yet completed, the nose gear assembly failed under the aircraft's weight. The aircraft pitched forward, causing the propellers to strike the runway surface before the aircraft came to a stop on its nose.
The investigation
The investigation examined the mechanical state of the aircraft and the operational sequence of the landing roll. The aircraft was operating at a weight of approximately 1580 kg, well within its maximum allowable limit of 1860 kg. The investigation focused on the functionality of the landing gear's electrical retraction motor and the safety circuit breaker/switch located on the left main gear strut, which is designed to prevent accidental retraction while the aircraft is on the ground.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was pilot error in operating the landing gear selector instead of the flap lever.
- At the moment the gear lever was moved, the wings were still generating sufficient lift to prevent the main landing gear struts from compressing fully.
- Because the struts were not sufficiently compressed, the safety cutout switch on the left wheel strut failed to activate, which would have otherwise prevented the accidental retraction of the gear while the aircraft was on the ground.
- There were no injuries to the pilot or the passenger.