The Rockwell International 114 touched down during landing at the airport in Cairo, Illinois, with the landing gear retracted and skidded to a stop in grass about 140′ past the end of the runway threshold.
The pilot reported during a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge that, “it was a simple gear-up landing, I forgot to put the switch down.”
He added that he was not wearing noise canceling headphones, and he reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported in the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report, “no accident, as specified by NTSB for gear up landing, is admitted.”
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear before landing, which resulted in a gear-up landing and a runway overrun.
NTSB Identification: GAA17CA483
This August 2017 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
That’s why Piper invented the PA-28R Arrow.
Sorta tired of the glib little old-timer euphemisms for these things. No such thing as a “gear up landing” it is a pilot-caused-crash. No such thing as ‘bending’ and aircraft. The should-no-longer-have-a-cert pilot destroyed the aircraft by making the why-retractable-planes-have-outrageous-insurance-costs hit the ground ‘wrong’.