The pilot of the twin-engine Beech 95-B55 was landing in gusty wind conditions at the airport in Westfield, Massachusetts, and thought he had extended the landing gear.
As he began to flare, he felt a bump and attributed it to the wind.
He then pitched the nose of the airplane up and quickly put his hand on the landing gear lever to confirm that the landing gear was down.
The airplane began to roll to the right, so he returned his hand to the throttles to reduce power on the right engine.
The plane hit the ground on the left wing and nose. The belly then hit the ground and the airplane slid upright before coming to a stop, resulting in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage.
Airport surveillance video captured the airplane as it began to flare over the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane then pitched up and the landing gear was observed extending while the plane was just a few feet above the runway. The left-wing then dropped and hit the ground, followed by the nose and fuselage.
The pilot said, “By all accounts, I did not lower the landing gear.”
However, he did not recall extending the gear after the airplane pitched up during the flare. He said he may have partially extended the gear on downwind because he never confirmed that the “green” gear-down lights were illuminated.
The pilot said he normally announces the pre-landing checklist out loud but did not do it on this flight.
Due to the gusty wind conditions, he landed with partial flaps, higher airspeed, and power setting. As a result, this configuration did not trigger the landing gear warning horn.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during the landing and his failure to confirm that the landing gear was extended before landing.
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This December 2020 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.
GUMPS
GUMPS
GUMPS
or a form of it,
Every single time.
All piston aircraft are certified with speeds and configuration for landing. If you are in a gusty wind condition you might want to look at the speed for landing and the flap/gear settings. I would bet money, if I were a betting man, that the manufacturer published speeds are well above the 1.3 VSO speed for the aircraft. This means there is a good buffer of speed should you lose some due to gusty conditions. As for flaps, a plane is more stable and slower, (see above speed) with full flaps. Why would I want to be fast, less stable and stay in the air longer in gusty conditions just a few feet above the runway? Also the warning system in this case was inactivated by the modified flap setting. Know your aircraft and always go through your before landing checklist at least twice before short final. Flying jets we are required to be fully configured and all checklists complete before turning final on a visual approach. There is good reason why.
The smaller the airplane, the more it gets thrown around by gusting conditions because the gust is a bigger percentage of its airspeed, plus some other factors. It would be similar to comparing the affect of a wave on a small boat vs a large boat. Fully extended flaps provide more surface on which the gust applies pressure and increases displacement. This can get very tricky when it happens in the flare. Making it even worse is the short distance from the flaps to the tail control surfaces. In some models, full flaps can significantly reduce rudder and/or elevator effectiveness – leaving flaps up or using partial flaps makes a significant difference in control and is what is recommended in many POH’s. With more control and less surface affected by gusts, it results in a more stable approach and landing. The landing distance is not necessarily impacted. The approach speed may be a few knots faster, but the landing attitude is reached sooner. Plus usually the ground speed is lower because of a higher headwind component which can completely offset the extra approach speed. With that said, it is important when speed is increased for gusts and/or less flaps, that the pilot not add too much speed – sometimes that happens initially and it would have a significant impact on landing distance.
Excellent explanation! Im surprised a jet guy (Chris) didn’t know this
How do you only partially extend the landing gear?
Of course!
If only all pilots were as perfect and infallible as Ken and Paul….
It’s an accident. Accidents are going to happen. It’s part of being a human being. Mistakes are made. Glad it’s only a bent plane.
An accident is getting blown off the runway in a high wind gust.
Landing gear up (minus mechanical failure) is not an accident. It’s negligence.
I do agree with You, Mr. Ken T.
This sort of thing should NEVER happen. Negligence is the simple cause. I fly a Cessna with fixed gear, but I still conduct a pre-landing checklist. It would be easy to add “GEAR – DOWN” to that checklist, and I would always check it. A Go-Around is always a viable option if you are unsure. This was an accident that occurred simply due to pilot incompetence and negligence.
Of course!