Event CEN21LA205

Factual narrative

The airline transport pilot reported that, while on downwind in the traffic pattern, he lowered the landing gear handle and verbally announced “gear down.” He looked at the cockpit indications to verify the landing gear was down and locked; however, he then shifted his attention outside of the cockpit to visually scan for three aircraft approaching and entering the traffic pattern. He reported that he did not confirm the landing gear was down and locked, as he was distracted with scanning for the other traffic. During landing, the bottom of the fuselage sustained substantial damage. A postaccident functional test of the landing gear revealed no mechanical anomalies with the landing gear system. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engines that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of equip/system-Pilot
• — Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring equip/instruments-Pilot
• — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Main landing gear-Not used/operated
• — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot