What happened
During the landing approach, the flight crew followed a heavy jet, electing to maintain a slightly higher altitude than usual to mitigate the risk of wake turbulence. While the first officer was operating the aircraft, the crew attempted to deploy the landing gear. Upon moving the gear handle to the down position, the captain observed red in-transit lights. Despite an attempt to recycle the gear, the indicators remained unchanged.
Following the emergency checklist, the captain believed the gear had been manually extended because of a perceived mechanical engagement and a subsequent decay in airspeed. Notably, the gear unsafe warning horn failed to activate when engine power was reduced to flight idle. The first officer confirmed that hydraulic pressure remained at 2,000 pounds.
The aircraft subsequently performed a wheels-up landing. During the impact, fragments from the propeller blades pierced the fuselage, compromising the pressure vessel. Post-accident inspections determined that while the nose gear had partially extended, the main landing gear remained retracted.
Findings
Investigation into the incident revealed that the crew had been dealing with recurring gear unsafe indications on this aircraft. Previous maintenance issues had linked such malfunctions to a frozen squat switch located within the wheel well.