This April 2009 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Aircraft: Cessna 210. Injuries: None. Location: Moab, Utah. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The flight was returning to home base following a two-hour scenic tour flight. The pilot had established the airplane on final approach and had added the initial increment of flaps for landing when he banked the airplane to point out an area of interest to his passengers. He input full flaps for landing and but did not check to make sure that the landing gear was down. The airplane landed on the runway with the landing gear retracted.
Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to lower the landing gear prior to landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s self-induced distraction by maneuvering on final to show a point of interest to passengers.
For more information: NTSB.gov
