Beech A35 N691B accident near Maricopa, Arizona

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to properly configure the landing gear and verify its position before landing, which resulted in a gear-up landing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot stated that she put the landing gear switch in the down position when the airplane was midfield on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and lowered the flaps on the base turn. The pilot also stated that she did not look at the gear position indicator before landing. Security video captured the airplane on short final, and the landing gear appeared to be in the retracted position. The airplane subsequently landed gear-up, substantially damaging the fuselage.

Following the accident, the landing gear switch was found in the down position, and the main landing gear doors were partially extended, with the inboard edges of the doors contacting the ground. Postaccident examination revealed no damage to the left main landing gear door, scraping damage to the extended ridge on the right main landing gear door, and scraping damage to the aft and outboard edges of the nose gear doors. The observed damage was consistent with all the landing gear being fully retracted upon landing. An operational check of the landing gear system revealed no anomalies.

The accident is consistent with the pilot’s failure to configure the landing gear and to verify its position before landing.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR24LA086 for the full record.