2007-07 · NASA ASRS report 746194
PA32 PLT LANDS GEAR UP DESPITE GEAR HANDLE IN THE EXTENDED POSITION.
ABOUT 10 MI SW OF ARPT; CTR HANDED ME TO CTL TWR AND I RPTED TO THEM INBOUND TO RWY 9L WITH CURRENT ATIS. THEY ASKED ME TO RPT 2 MI FROM RWY 9L AND INSTEAD THEY CALLED ME 2.3 MI OUT ADVISING CLR RWY 9L FOR LNDG. AT ABOUT 10 MI OUT; I HAD SLOWED THE AIRPLANE AND WENT THROUGH MY LNDG CHKLIST; INCLUDING PUTTING DOWN THE LNDG GEAR HANDLE. I REMEMBER SEEING 3 GREEN SHORTLY THEREAFTER AND PROCEEDED WITH THE LNDG. AS I FLARED; I HEARD THE SOUND OF METAL ON THE RWY; BUT AT THE TIME DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE NOISE WAS. I QUICKLY DROPPED THE NOSE TO COMPLETE THE LNDG; FEARING A FIRE OR SOME PART OF THE AIRPLANE COMING APART. AS I DID SO; THE NOSE STARTED TO BOUNCE AND I HAD TO USE RUDDER TO CTL AND MAINTAIN CTRLINE. EVENTUALLY RUDDER HAD NO EFFECT AND THE AIRPLANE STARTED TO SWERVE ON THE RWY; BUT IT QUICKLY CAME TO A STOP. I QUICKLY SHUT DOWN THE AIRPLANE TO AVOID FIRE AND LEFT THE CRAFT; ONLY THEN TO DISCOVER A GEAR-UP LNDG. LOOKING INTO THE CABIN FROM THE OUTSIDE; I FOUND THE GEAR LEVER IN THE 'DOWN' POS. I DID NOT HAVE VISUAL; AURAL; OR TWR WARNING THAT THE GEAR WAS UP. UPON EXAMINATION OF THE CRAFT 4 DAYS LATER WITH THE FAA EXAMINER AND A CERTIFIED MECH; IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE BREAKER TO THE LNDG GEAR LEVER WAS MALFUNCTIONING; AND THAT BREAKER ALSO CTLED THE GEAR UP WARNING LIGHT AND AURAL ALERT. THE BREAKER WOULD COME IN AND OUT; AND WAS DEFECTIVE IN THAT IT DID NOT POP OUT WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO. I BELIEVE I COULD HAVE STILL KNOWN OF A GEAR-UP EVENT AND USED THE EMER GEAR DOWN LEVER IF I HAD BEEN LISTENING FOR BACK-UP CUES LIKE THE SOUND OF DROPPING GEAR AND FEELING THE DRAG OF THE GEAR AS IT DROPPED. INSTEAD; I WAS FOCUSED ON RWY VISUAL APCH; TWR COM; ENG SETTINGS; ETC; IN A NEW ARPT. FAMILIARITY BREEDS CARELESSNESS. HRS OF EXPERIENCE TRUSTING THE GEAR DOWN LEVER TO BRING DOWN THE GEAR WAS A FACTOR IN MISSING THE BACK-UP CUES; WHICH COULD HAVE SAVED THE DAY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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