With a crew of two onboard a Shorts 360-300 cargo aircraft was being flown on a Check Flight (FAA Part 135) in the Class B airspace in the area of Las Vegas (Nevada, USA).
The nose section of the aircraft after being recovered (Source: www.kathrynsreport.com © aircraft operator)
After an uneventful take-off from Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (Nevada, USA) the required manoeuvres were flown, including three approaches into Las Vegas North Air Terminal Airport (Nevada USA). The last approach was flown to a full-stop landing. The aircraft was taxied back to the beginning of the runway.
The weather was good, and VMC (Visual Meteorological Conditions) conditions existed;
Wind : 250º at 4 knots
Clouds : few at 12.000 ft AGL
Temperature : 37ºC
Dewpoint : -1ºC
Altimeter : 29.86 inHg
The aircraft being recovered (Source: https://arffwg.org/ © Unknown)
ATC was asked for a precision approach to any available (active) runway at McCarran, this was not possible and the crew accepted a visual approach. The approach was uneventful, up to the moment of touchdown. At that time it became (obviously) clear that the landing gear had not been extended. The aircraft settled on its belly and slid down the runway, coming to a stop on the runway. The lower fuselage sustained substantial damage in the gear-up landing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was alerted and started an investigation. The Check Pilot (Pilot Monitoring in the right seat) reported there were no technical issues with the aircraft prior to the accident. On the 21st of October, the NTSB published their Aviation Investigation Final Report and stated that the probable cause(s) for the gear-up landing to be;
The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear
The check pilot's inadequate supervision
After recovery from the runway, the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
The NTSB report (and a part of the check pilot report) which were used as sources for this blog can be accessed, for the reader's reference, by clicking on the relevant .pdf files below;