Accident Details
On 23 January 1999 at 1200 UTC, a Yak-50 aircraft, registration G-BWJT, sustained substantial damage during a landing with the landing gear retracted at Breighton Airfield, North Yorkshire. The aircraft was engaged in a private flight from Nottingham. The sole occupant, the pilot, was uninjured.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Yak-50, manufactured in 1981. It was powered by one Ivchenko Vedeneyev M-14P piston engine.
Pilot Information
The pilot, aged 56, held a Private Pilot's Licence and had a total flying experience of 810 hours, of which 90 hours were on type. In the last 90 days, he had flown 5 hours, and in the last 28 days, 2 hours.
Sequence of Events
The pilot completed an uneventful flight from Nottingham to Breighton in good weather. Upon arrival, he attempted to make radio contact but received no response. He continued his approach, transmitting his position and intentions blind. On base leg for the grass Runway 29, he considered whether to land on the grass runway or the parallel hard runway (normally used as a taxiway), due to recent rain potentially making the grass runway unfit. Having observed no standing water on the grass runway, he elected to use it for landing. While deciding which runway to use, the pilot neglected to lower the aircraft's landing gear. The aircraft landed with the landing gear retracted. Because the main wheels do not retract fully into the wheel wells, the aircraft suffered little damage to its airframe, but the propeller and engine shock loading were substantial.
Findings
The pilot considered that the cause of the accident was his failure to lower the landing gear while he was distracted by making up his mind as to which runway to use.