Beech 76 N54V accident near Vacaville, California

Probable cause

The pilot under instruction’s failure to extend the landing gear and the flight instructor’s inadequate supervision and failure to ensure that the landing gear was extended.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor was giving instruction in the multiengine, retractable-landing gear-equipped airplane. On the downwind leg in the pattern, he asked the pilot under instruction to perform a simulated single-engine emergency landing with the left engine shutdown.

It was the pilot under instruction's first training flight in a multiengine airplane, and he asked a series of questions of the flight instructor during the procedure. The instructor reported that they both became distracted and forgot to extend the landing gear. The airplane landed with the landing gear retracted and came to rest on the runway.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wingspar and longerons.

The flight instructor reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA18CA239 for the full record.