History of the Flight
The pilot of the Yak-52, G-CBOZ, had flown to Headcorn Airfield. During the arrival, he selected the landing gear DOWN and received green ‘down and locked’ indications for the nose and right main landing gears, but no indication for the left main gear. He performed a low flypast to allow ground personnel to confirm the gear position. After numerous attempts to extend the left main gear—including gear retractions and extensions, high-g manoeuvres, and emergency system extensions—the gear remained stuck. The pilot then decided to carry out a wheels-up landing.
Emergency Landing
After alerting emergency services, the pilot circled the aircraft to burn off excess fuel. He landed on an area of long grass adjacent to Runway 29 at Lashenden Airfield. The aircraft touched down and continued for about 100 metres before coming to rest. The pilot was uninjured and exited the aircraft without difficulty.
Aircraft Damage
The aircraft sustained a broken propeller and possible shock-loading to the engine. The gear uplock release catch was also broken.
Investigation Findings
Examination of the left landing gear uplock mechanism revealed bird remains embedded within it. These remains had prevented the normal operation of the uplock mechanism, thereby precluding extension of the left main landing gear. The pilot noted that he had carried out a low, fast flypast at Headcorn prior to selecting the landing gear and, although he had not been aware of any birds, he considered that the birdstrike was likely to have occurred during that manoeuvre.