GEAR UP LNDG WHEN PLT DISTR DURING LOC APCH BY LOOKING FOR RPTED TFC IN THE UNCTLED ARPT TFC PATTERN TO WHICH HE WAS DSNDING.

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UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS REMAIN MYSTERIES WHEN ALL THE WITNESSES ARE KILLED. AS A LIVING WITNESS; I HAVE HAD MY SUSPICIONS VERIFIED. DISTRS LEAVE FEW IF ANY CLUES. CLRED FOR THE LOC APCH TO FUL; ASOS RPTED 900 FT AND 3 MI VISIBILITY; A ROUTINE APCH I'VE DONE 100 OR MORE TIMES. TOPS WERE 2200 FT MSL. ATC ADVISED TO CHANGE OVER TO ADVISORY FREQ AT FAF AND TO CLOSE THE IFR WHEN ABLE. AS NORMAL; I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF SLOWING THE ACFT TO GEAR DOWN SPD WHEN I SWITCHED TO ADVISORY FREQ. I ADVISED I WAS INBOUND TO RWY 24. WHEN ANOTHER ACFT ADVISED HE WAS IN THE AREA I WAS STILL IMC. BELOW THE CEILING; VISIBILITY WAS VARIABLE WITH CLOUDS BLOTTING OUT VISIBILITY IN SOME DIRECTIONS. I NEVER SAW THE OTHER ACFT AND TURNED UP THE RWY LIGHTS TO THEIR BRIGHTEST IN ORDER TO SEE THE RWY ABOUT 2 MI OUT. I ADVISED ATC TO CLOSE MY IFR FLT PLAN AND LANDED GEAR UP; FLAPS DOWN. OBVIOUSLY; A POTENTIAL MIDAIR BECAME THE #1 PRIORITY. NORMALLY; ATC GIVES YOU TA'S BEFORE SWITCHING A PLT TO ADVISORY FREQ. MAYBE ATC DIDN'T SEE THE TFC. ATC'S FAILURE TO GUARANTEE SEPARATION DEMANDED MY FULL ATTN TO AVOID A MIDAIR. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT THE ACFT'S PROP; ENG; FLAPS; NOSE AND MAIN GEAR DOORS WERE DAMAGED. THE ACFT WAS NOT CLASSIFIED AS AN ACCIDENT. HE REITERATED THAT THE LOCATION OF THE ACFT RPTING ON UNICOM JUST AS HE BROKE OUT OF THE OVCST AND WAS REACHING FOR THE GEAR HANDLE; CAUSED HIM TO FORGET THE GEAR OF THE BEECH 36 HE WAS FLYING.