AIR TAXI PLT OF C210 ON PHOTO MISSION MAKES GEAR UP LNDG.

Date: 1997-08 · Aircraft: Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C; 210D

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-unspecified

Synopsis

AIR TAXI PLT OF C210 ON PHOTO MISSION MAKES GEAR UP LNDG.

Narrative

THIS IS TO RPT A GEAR UP LNDG I MADE ON AUG/XX/97; AT THE FOT ARPT. I WAS SCHEDULED FOR A FLT IN C210; FOR A RECONNAISSANCE IN THE AREA OF THE ROHNERVILLE ARPT. I WAS TO TAKE 2 ENGINEERS TO ROHNERVILLE TO MEET A THIRD INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD THEN GO WITH US TO PHOTOGRAPH THE CONFLUENCE OF THE EEL AND VAN DUZEN RIVERS. WHILE IN THE OFFICE I RAN A WT AND BAL FOR THE FLT TO INSURE THAT I WAS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE MORE RESTRICTIVE REQUIREMENTS OF PART 135; ALTHOUGH I KNEW THE OBJECTIVE OF THE FLT WAS RECONNAISSANCE. I BROUGHT THE ACFT TO THE TERMINAL BUILDING; MET MY PAX AND BRIEFED THE FLT. THEIR OBJECTIVE WAS TO DO PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE ROHNERVILLE AREA AS WELL AS EXAMINE BRIDGES IN THE VICINITY OF UKIAH AND CLOVERDALE. WE DISCUSSED WHETHER TO DO THIS ON THE WAY UP OR ON THE RETURN. IT WAS DECIDED TO DO THIS ON THE RETURN IN ORDER TO MEET THE SCHEDULE AT ROHNERVILLE. ON ARR IN THE FOT AREA WE DID A TURN AROUND THE BRIDGE IN QUESTION TO GET AN INITIAL LAYOUT OF THE SITE. WE PICKED UP THE THIRD TECHNICIAN AND CONDUCTED THE RECONNAISSANCE OUT OF ROHNERVILLE. WE HAD BEEN OPERATING BTWN 2000 FT AND 1000 FT ALONG THE RIVER AT LOW AIRSPDS WITH 10 DEGS OF FLAPS SET. AT APPROX 1200 FT; WE COMPLETED THE LAST SET OF PHOTOS OF A SITE JUST TO THE S OF THE FOT ARPT AT PATTERN ALT; APPROX 1200 FT. WE MADE A R TURN ONTO A 45 DEG TO DOWNWIND FOR RWY 29 AT APPROX 20 INCHES MANIFOLD PRESSURE AND 100 KTS. I CALLED MY POS AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER CALLED TURNING DOWNWIND. I MADE THE TURN AND I RECALL CHKING FLAPS AT 10 DEGS AND NOTING THEY WERE ALREADY DOWN. I BEGAN REVIEWING THE LNDG CHKLIST. I LOOKED DOWN TO CHK MY FUEL AND NOTED THAT THE L TANK WAS LOWER THAN THE R; SO I SWITCHED TO THE R TANK TO LAND WITH THE FULLEST SELECTED. I LOOKED OVER TO CHK MY POS RELATIVE TO THE RWY; BUT DID NOT MAKE MY NORMAL CHK OF GEAR DOWN ABEAM THE LNDG POINT. I DO NOT KNOW WHY I DID NOT COMPLETE THIS ITEM. I RETARDED PWR THEN PUSHED THE MIXTURE AND PROP CTL FORWARD. I MADE A NORMAL BASE TURN; AIRSPD WAS ABOUT 90 KTS AND SEEMED NORMAL FOR THE PATTERN. I REMEMBER RECHKING THE GAS; PROP AND MIXTURE CTLS; BUT NOT THE GEAR. WE DSNDED ON FINAL; AND I RECALL THE GLIDE PATH BEING NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY HIGH; SO I BROUGHT THE THROTTLE TO IDLE. I FLARED AFTER PASSING THE THRESHOLD OF THE RWY AND BEGAN RAISING THE NOSE. I BELIEVE THE FIRST SOUND I HEARD WAS THE PROP STRIKING THE RWY FOLLOWED BY SCRAPING OF THE REAR FUSELAGE. THE ACFT SETTLED ONTO THE RWY JUST PRIOR TO THE 1000 FT MARKER AND SLID ABOUT 700 FT BEFORE COMING TO REST. I ASCERTAINED THAT THE PAX SEEMED TO BE UNINJURED AND DIRECTED THE EVAC OF THE ACFT. AT NO POINT DID THE GEAR WARNING SOUND DURING THE PATTERN; AND; UPON REFLECTION; I DO NOT REMEMBER IT SOUNDING WHILE WE WERE ON THE RECONNAISSANCE FLT; ALTHOUGH THE PWR SETTINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN LOW ENOUGH THAT IT SHOULD HAVE AT SOME POINT. I HAD CHKED IT PRIOR TO THE FIRST FLT OF THE DAY AND DETERMINED THAT IT WAS WORKING. THE ACFT REMAINED ON THE RWY UNTIL MECHS FROM EUREKA WERE ABLE TO JACK THE ACFT; AND THE LNDG GEAR WAS LOWERED NORMALLY. THEY SAID THAT THE DAMAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE ACFT WAS NOT SEVERE; BUT THE PROP WAS NOT REPAIRABLE. AFTER THE FLT I CHKED THE GEAR WARNING HORN AND IT WAS NOT WORKING. THAT AFTERNOON I WAS CONTACTED AT THE ROHNERVILLE ARPT BY MR Y OF THE FAA. HE INTERVIEWED ME REGARDING THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE INCIDENT AND THEN REVIEWED THE ACFT DOCUMENTATION; AS WELL AS THE PAPERWORK FOR THE FLT. I SHOWED HIM THE WT AND BAL CALCULATIONS FOR THE FLT; AND HE NOTED THAT THEY HAD BEEN PREPARED INCORRECTLY. I HAD RUN THE WT AND BAL PROGRAM ON FLIGHTSOFT FLT PLANNING SOFTWARE AND HAD INADVERTENTLY PRINTED THE INFO FOR THE WRONG ACFT; ALTHOUGH THE PAX WTS WERE CORRECT. I HAD CALCULATED A SIMILAR LOAD MANY TIMES BEFORE AND KNEW IT TO BE WITHIN LIMITS; SO NEGLECTED TO CHK THE PRINTOUT CLOSELY. I HAVE FLOWN A LARGE NUMBER OF THESE RECONNAISSANCE MISSIONS; HOWEVER MAINLY IN THE C206 WITH FIXED GEAR. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT HABIT PATTERNS FROM THAT SORT OF MISSION MAY HAVE CARRIED OVER TO THIS FLT. I HAVE OVER 2100 HRS IN THE C206; AND I WOULD ESTIMATE AT LEAST 75% HAVE BEEN RECONNAISSANCE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES HE IS WITH AN AIR TAXI OP; PART 135. RPTR CONTACTED THE LCL FSDO AND THERE WAS NO PROB EXCEPT THE CHK RIDE WITH THE FAA REPRESENTATIVE. SINCE HE IS VERY PRECISE IN HIS FLYING HE IS STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED. HE AND HIS BOSS HAVE DISCUSSED IT AND DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.