Eclipse Aviation has gear up landing

wow! i wonder what went wrong? Surely the pilot didn't just forget! If so he might not have a job anymore!
 
Rudy said:
wow! i wonder what went wrong? Surely the pilot didn't just forget! If so he might not have a job anymore!
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Rudy, based upon what I read on this last week it sounds as if thats exactly what happened.
 
These guys really are impressive as far as testing!! Never thought they'd do a test gear up!! I'm really impressed. ;)

Dave
 
FAA Prelim info. Not really too useful:


IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 505EA Make/Model: EXP Description: ECLIPSE AVIATION 500
Date: 09/03/2005 Time: 1752

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Minor

LOCATION
City: ALBUQUERQUE State: NM Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON TEST FLIGHT LANDED GEAR UP, ALBUQUERQUE, NM

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
Activity: Training Phase: Landing Operation: General Aviation

Departed: (ABQ) ALBUQUERQUE,NM Dep Date: 09/03/2005 Dep. Time: 1652
Destination: (ABQ) ALBUQUERQUE,NM Flt Plan: VFR Wx Briefing: Y
Last Radio Cont: SHORT FINAL RWY 3
Last Clearance: CLRD FOR THE OPTION RWY 3

FAA FSDO: ALBUQUERQUE, NM (SW01) Entry date: 09/06/2005 #
 
AdamZ said:
Rudy, based upon what I read on this last week it sounds as if thats exactly what happened.
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Man, it seems to me like it wouldn't be hard to do, especially if you are transitioning from fixed-gear to retractable! This is why if i ever have a retractable I am going to put GUMPS in huge letters somewhere in my cockpit, I don't care how dumb it looks, it won't look as dumb as me skidding down the runway on my belly! hah
 
Rudy said:
Man, it seems to me like it wouldn't be hard to do
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Bingo, Rudy.
Just promise to never, ever become complacent with your checklists. Do them every time; do em' like you mean em!
 
Rudy said:
Man, it seems to me like it wouldn't be hard to do, especially if you are transitioning from fixed-gear to retractable! This is why if i ever have a retractable I am going to put GUMPS in huge letters somewhere in my cockpit, I don't care how dumb it looks, it won't look as dumb as me skidding down the runway on my belly! hah
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Oh, Rudy, you'll find out how easy it is to get distracted.....
 
bbchien said:
Oh, Rudy, you'll find out how easy it is to get distracted.....
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I am sure it is, i kind of look at it like this "Since i received my license i have never forgot to turn my fuel pump on or switch to my fullest tank when coming into land."
Of course the consequences are usually not as severe as leaving the gear up but kind of the same point, Just do the checklist!
 
Rudy said:
Man, it seems to me like it wouldn't be hard to do, especially if you are transitioning from fixed-gear to retractable! This is why if i ever have a retractable I am going to put GUMPS in huge letters somewhere in my cockpit, I don't care how dumb it looks, it won't look as dumb as me skidding down the runway on my belly! hah
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In my Mooney, the gear warring horn is sooo loud, it is impossible to land gear up. Plus the fact that you will never slow down enough to get the flaps extended without lowering the gear. The only gear up I will ever have is if the gear collapses on me.

Michael
 
Michael said:
In my Mooney, the gear warring horn is sooo loud, it is impossible to land gear up. Plus the fact that you will never slow down enough to get the flaps extended without lowering the gear. The only gear up I will ever have is if the gear collapses on me.

Michael
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It's pretty much all about distractions, and as hard as it is to believe, I'm certain that more than one pilot has completely missed a loud gear warning horn. A door popped open, a sick passenger, or even a verbal fight with another airplane on the CTAF can grab enough of your attention that you'd fail to notice that the gear didn't extend when you lowered the handle. I'll bet that the biggest reason why we don't see a lot more gear up landings is because it almost always comes down, and the odds of a critical distraction occurring on the same landing as an actuator failure are pretty slim. Of course if the distraction results in a failure to even operate the gear switch/lever, you don't need a coincidence.

Something that's difficult to learn and/or practice is recognizing that you are in the midst of a distraction and need to double check everything, but AFaIK that's what it takes to minimize your exposure to this common mishap (aside from never flying retractables).
 
Michael said:
In my Mooney, the gear warring horn is sooo loud, it is impossible to land gear up. Plus the fact that you will never slow down enough to get the flaps extended without lowering the gear. The only gear up I will ever have is if the gear collapses on me.

Michael
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I've had two throttle position switches fail on retractable airplanes. One was found at annual and the other was always set a little high and made the plane kinda hard to slow down with the horn blaring. One day, I could pull the throttle back enough to slow down without the horn. Hmmmmm. Switch broke.
 
Michael said:
In my Mooney, the gear warring horn is sooo loud, it is impossible to land gear up. Plus the fact that you will never slow down enough to get the flaps extended without lowering the gear. The only gear up I will ever have is if the gear collapses on me. Michael
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Hmmmn Infallibilitly :)

I tell the story form time to time of a part 135 ride in my district, in an Aerostar 602P. The young buck had done all the maneuvers and was on downwind; he offers the landing to the Inspector, who says, My Bird. The candidate pulled the inboard engine (fuel) with disasterous result. They landed safely but neither remembered to put the gear out.

The inspector is no longer an inspector. The young buck had all his certificates revoked, and is selling insurance today.
 
bbchien said:
Hmmmn Infallibilitly :)
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Your right Doc, I should rephrase that....um, I hopefully will never have a gear up landing :)
 
Michael said:
Your right Doc, I should rephrase that....um, I hopefully will never have a gear up landing :)
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Well, the other thing about the Mooney is that you start relying on the gear as a speed brake.
 
Rudy said:
Man, it seems to me like it wouldn't be hard to do, especially if you are transitioning from fixed-gear to retractable! This is why if i ever have a retractable I am going to put GUMPS in huge letters somewhere in my cockpit, I don't care how dumb it looks, it won't look as dumb as me skidding down the runway on my belly! hah
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It really isn't that dang tough to remember to put the gear down, the plane tells you the gear is up. Typically there is a horn that goes off, and even failing that, you'll notice that the plane just ain't slowin down properly. If things don't seem right, they probably aren't, find out why.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Well, the other thing about the Mooney is that you start relying on the gear as a speed brake.
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I also indoctrinated the "gear down, go down" mantra into my workflow... I do NOT start my descent from downwind to the runway until the gear is extended and I have green light(s). The hand stays on the gear handle until I feel the gear move in my butt (in the Mooney M20E, you'll feel it), and I have a gear down indication and a good mark on the manual floor indicator... THEN, and only then, does the hand go to the throttle to reduce power for the descent.

Repeat after me... "Gear down, THEN go down." "Gear down, go down." "Gear down, go down."

Make it a habit. Habits are hard to break.
 
I wonder, if from a training perspective we should be taught to lower the gear even when going for our PP ticket. Sure it would be just going through the motion ( pretend if you will) but perhpas it will drill it in at an earlier stage.
 
AdamZ said:
I wonder, if from a training perspective we should be taught to lower the gear even when going for our PP ticket. Sure it would be just going through the motion ( pretend if you will) but perhpas it will drill it in at an earlier stage.
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That's a good idea; I still do the full GUMPS check in a fixed gear plane; and when I get to "Undercarriage", I call out "down and welded."
 
Troy Whistman said:
That's a good idea; I still do the full GUMPS check in a fixed gear plane; and when I get to "Undercarriage", I call out "down and welded."
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Or better yet, prepare for that eventual seaplane rating and say, "This will be on land. The gear is down."
 
Troy Whistman said:
That's a good idea; I still do the full GUMPS check in a fixed gear plane; and when I get to "Undercarriage", I call out "down and welded."
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I was in that good habit also, but with a simple taildragger I got away from it out of laziness since virtually none of the GUMPS check applies (no fuel selector, no retractible gear, no mixture control, no prop control, and I always leave my belts fastened.
 
my flight club stresses that GUMPS to them means

Gear Up
Undercarriage
Main Gear Up
Put the Gear Up
S ( i forget this one, but you get the idea )

:)
 
I have only owned my plane for 3.5 months and have already landed "gear-up" over 100 times:eek:
 
Ken Ibold said:
I love Lakes. I'd like my next airplane to be a Renegade.
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Me to! Then a widgen. Then a goose. I could die a happy man with a Mallard!
 
AdamZ said:
I wonder, if from a training perspective we should be taught to lower the gear even when going for our PP ticket. Sure it would be just going through the motion ( pretend if you will) but perhpas it will drill it in at an earlier stage.
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I had to do GUMPS during my PP, and G included looking out the windows and checking the tires on the 172. Just because you don't have a switch, doesn't mean your gear is OK!
 
mmilano said:
my flight club stresses that GUMPS to them means

Gear Up
Undercarriage
Main Gear Up
Put the Gear Up
S ( i forget this one, but you get the idea )

:)
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S is for Stupid... Which is probably the tamest thing you'd be called if you did your GUMPS in the above manner. Gear UP?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! :no: :no: :no:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
S is for Stupid... Which is probably the tamest thing you'd be called if you did your GUMPS in the above manner. Gear UP?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! :no: :no: :no:
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Sure, if it was an amphib doing a water landing.
 
The check list still works. I run through it and yes I do feel and yes look at the lights for gear down. When I lower the gear I listen to the wind and noise and look at the lights. After that I gently swing the rudder to see if the lights get brighter or weaker. I guess I just want the legs to be fully extended. Oh yes I do not lower the gear at high speeds. I thank the check list and GUMP


John J
 
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