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GAA18CA418

2018-07-10 · Houston, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DWH

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot receiving instruction's failure to extend the landing gear and the flight instructor's failure to ensure that the landing gear were extended during landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot receiving instruction's and instructor's failure to conduct a prelanding checklist.

Factual narrative

The private pilot reported that he was receiving commercial instruction in an airplane with retractable landing gear during a cross country flight to an unfamiliar airport. He added that while he turned the airplane from the downwind leg to the base leg of the traffic pattern for the runway, he did not perform the checklist, and the flight instructor did not verity that the landing gear were extended. The airplane touched down on the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the external longerons on the lower fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot did not submit the National Transportation Safety Board Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report Form 6120.1. The private pilot reported that he was receiving commercial instruction in an airplane with retractable landing gear during a cross-country flight. He added that, while he turned the airplane from the downwind leg to the base leg of the traffic pattern for the runway, he did not perform the checklist, and the flight instructor did not verity that the landing gear were extended. The airplane touched down on the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the external longerons on the lower fuselage. The pilot receiving instruction reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Gear extension and retract sys-Not used/operated - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Student/instructed pilot - C
  • F Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Use of checklist-Instructor/check pilot - F

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2018_GAA18CA418.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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