Piper PA 31P N192CS accident near Killeen, Texas

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to extend the landing gear due to his distraction with the flaps, his misinterpretation of the landing gear warning horn, and his failure to verify that the landing gear were down, which resulted in a landing with the gear retracted.

NTSB analysis

The pilot had departed on the business flight but decided to return to the airport to wait for the weather to improve. He indicated that, on approach, he lowered the flaps to 15° to slow the airplane to within "gear down speed." The pilot noticed that the flaps continued past 15°, and he took his hand off the landing gear lever and raised the flaps back up to the fully retracted position. The pilot overshot the runway on the turn to final. As he attempted to align the airplane with the runway centerline, he heard a warning horn, which he thought was the stall warning horn. He then landed on the runway with the landing gear retracted, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage frame and stringers.

After the accident, the pilot stated he had mistaken the gear-up warning horn for the stall warning horn. The pilot also said he did not visually check the landing gear indicator lights or look at the mirrors to verify the landing gear was down.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN16LA189 for the full record.