How does this happen?

jpower

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James
This happened back in 2009 so it may (probably?) have been posted, but I wasn't around here for it. But seriously, how does this kind of thing happen? The extent of my retract time is bumming a ride in a Bonanza, but with checklists and and a seriously loud aural warning, I can't quite understand how it happened.

 
Is not rare, specially during an IFR/IMC approach go around procedure. It almost happened to me. During the approach I heard the alarm too but ignored thinking it was the stall warning alarm. I applied power and the alarm turned off because of the throttle position. Luckily I realized what was going on and extended the gear. Since then I installed a voice warning device that screams "check landing gear". Veery effective to avoid this kind of events.

José
 
People get distracted and fail to complete their GUMPs check!

Gear down selected, Hand does not come off gear lever until there are three green. Check 1
Turning final, gas, undercarriage, mixture, prop. Check 2
Short final, landing assured, GUMP, cleared to land. Check 3

Check 3 cleared to land is my own permission to land, all checks complete.
I should have already received tower clearance, but not all landings are at towered airports.

I'm not familiar with the Tabago, but all the way down final I see one green (center) out of three high on the instrument panel. I do not know if those are the gear down lights, but only one was lit.
 
I'm guessing that the gear alarm went off and the pilot wasn't ready to drop the gear yet and so he ignored it. You'd think the alarm would be a constant reminder of the gear. But no, it's not. If you don't drop the gear immediately when the alarm goes off, you may never drop the gear. The brain is very good at tuning out extraneous sounds. Very, VERY good at tuning out extraneous sounds.

It's hard to believe this until you've experienced it. I had a CFI demonstrate it to me once. It was scary. You hear the alarm, decide it is not important at the moment, and then your brain ignores it. The problem is that once your brain ignores, it will never comes back to it. Despite the continuous alarm, once you decide to ignore it, you effectively don't hear it any more. No matter how loud it is, you're not going to hear it once your brain has decided to ignore it.

A short final checklist including "check gear down" can help, but expecting the alarm to help you really won't help nearly as much as you think.

If the alarm goes off and you don't drop the gear, you are in a very dangerous situation. IMO, you shouldn't be teaching someone to fly a complex plane until you understand this effect.
 
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...you know that about 2 seconds before he hit he was thinking, "ummm....I should be rolling by now...oh $#%!!!".
 
Sometimes folks will go through check lists without actually paying attention to the check list. They do it for the sake of going thorugh the checklist not actually checking the things on the list. Its not that they don't want to check it but it can actually be a subconscious thing. The brain sort of goes on auto pilot. Apparently pilots have actually gone through check lists, touched the instrument they are mentioning and not even check the instrument. In this video that didn't happen, my guess is the pilot was just distracted and focused on getting the plane down. No pilot is immune from such things.
 
Never underestimate the ability of a person to ignore even a loud horn. We can do amazing things.

OK, now the only answer (partial) is totally ingrained habits.
I call out "3 green" out loud (after actually looking)
on downwind,
on base,
on turning final,
and just going over the fence.
(guys who fly with me think I am nuts)
Will it keep me from ever making a mistake?
Dunno, but I'm trying. (shrug)
 
Most often caused by a short circuit between the pilot's seat and the control yoke. :D
 
you use a whole lot less runway when you don't use the landing gear. may be something to consider at airports with short runways b/c overshooting the end of the field can be embarassing.
 
A perfect example of why canceling out all the noise in a headset is bad. ;p


Shane
The Squawk Shoppe
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
A perfect example of why canceling out all the noise in a headset is bad. ;p
A noise canceling aviation headset does not cancel the noise in that video -- not even close. They are tuned to eliminate the low frequency noise of the engine/prop, not high pitched tones like that.

In any case, events like this occur when the pilot does not have good procedures and stick to them (even when they aren't convenient).
 
A perfect example of why canceling out all the noise in a headset is bad. ;p


Shane
The Squawk Shoppe
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I never fail to hear these aural warnings with my ANR headsets.
 
What's strange to me is both the pilot and the person in the right seat look down at the controls right after the beep. I wonder if they acknowledge the gear is not down but want to wait and then forget to do it later? Or, if the controls indicate it is down as said above? The text on the video says they just forgot, however.

Our club had a recent gear up with someone entering the pattern lower than planned so when they entered they decided not to lower the gear at that time, and then he forgot until the plane's belly hit the ground.
 
There are two types of pilots - those that have landed gear up, and those who will.
 
They were distracted talking to each other on final.


This is why I like fixed gear. :yes:
 
There are two types of pilots - those that have landed gear up, and those who will.

Bull****, pilots go their entire career without a gear up, that's just a lame platitude espoused by people with their head up their ass. Mechanical failure excepted, there is no excuse for landing gear up.
 
Bull****, pilots go their entire career without a gear up, that's just a lame platitude espoused by people with their head up their ass. Mechanical failure excepted, there is no excuse for landing gear up.

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. I had a Cherokee pilot tell me that if you ever forgot to turn on the fuel pumps you would probably forget the gear some day.
 
You know when you land with the gear up you will have to go full throttle to taxi to the FBO:)
 
I have thought about this at great length before. I honestly attribute some of this to how we train. I know the horn is loud and obnoxious, but when you are training in a new model and maybe doing slow flight, or stalls, or emergency descent... whatever it may be. I believe we get accustom to hearing the horn and ignoring it. When I am checking out a new student in a complex aircraft I try my best to not let them hear the horn other than to show them what it means. If it starts to become a normal noise associated with pulling the throttle out then its now good.

Complacency is the first contributing factor of course.. ;)

Just my 2 cents.
 
GUMPS, GUMPS, GUMPS! In my 5 hrs of retractable time so far, my instructor is always telling me to do a GUMPS check. When I think I did it enough times, do it again.
 
Merde!

Having the gear down would have been handy on that short, steep approach.

Can't imagine landing gear up in my Mooney. Very difficult to slow to approach speed with the gear up, and instead of a horn I have a loud voice that comes over the intercom repeating, "Check gear! Check gear!"
 
One scenario is the pilot does his GUMPS and, for some reason, doesn't extend the gear (reasons vary, but one is "I'm going to do (insert something non-standard) and THEN extend the gear")

Another scenario is the pilot doesn't even do his landing checklist figuring he is so familiar with everything that he no longer HAS to.
 
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There's also the possibility the gear was inop and the pilot was forced to make the landing.

This may be likely considering the lack of swear words from the pilot after the aircraft stopped.

:D
 
One scenario is the pilot does his GUMPS and, for some reason, doesn't retract the gear (reasons vary, but one is "I'm going to do (insert something non-standard) and THEN retract the gear")

Another scenario is the pilot doesn't even do his landing checklist figuring he is so familiar with everything that he no longer HAS to.
Did you mean "extend" rather than "retract"? If so, I agree completely. As I said, it's about having good procedures and then not deviating from them just for convenience.
 
A noise canceling aviation headset does not cancel the noise in that video -- not even close. They are tuned to eliminate the low frequency noise of the engine/prop, not high pitched tones like that.

In any case, events like this occur when the pilot does not have good procedures and stick to them (even when they aren't convenient).

I find it nothing short of hilarious, you training me on what headsets do. It's like me trying to tell you how to pronounce your own name...

First, it was a JOKE! I was making a crack at Sennheiser... and well Bose too, and how everyone thinks they have some "special equipment inside" that is "proprietary" and cancels out EVERYTHING.

Second of all, you are incorrect. However if you'd like some training on aviation headsets and how Active & Passive Noise reduction works, let me know.
 
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I've always thought the pilot should have to push on the gear knob to turn off the warning. Not that he has to put it into the gear down position, just has to push on that knob and slight detent down to turn the warning off. If forces him to touch the knob. Not sure if anyone has ever done that.

Also, you really need a second gear check EVERY landing, on final.
 
When I execute a planned procedure without the gear, I find that the airplane will not slow down and none of the power settings are anywhere near the norm, so there really should be an enormous amount of reminders to clue someone in that those big drag producers aren't out there in the wind.
 
There's also the possibility the gear was inop and the pilot was forced to make the landing.

This may be likely considering the lack of swear words from the pilot after the aircraft stopped.

:D

There were a couple as they were getting out and walking around. "Oh putain" is roughly equivalent to f***, and "c'est le bordel" literally means "it's a brothel," but could be taken as a vulgar way of saying "this is such a mess."

When I execute a planned procedure without the gear, I find that the airplane will not slow down and none of the power settings are anywhere near the norm, so there really should be an enormous amount of reminders to clue someone in that those big drag producers aren't out there in the wind.

Yeah, no kidding. I don't have any retract time, but the flaps failed on me once in a 172. I tried to put just the first notch in abeam the numbers, and by midway on base without adding (or trying to add) any more flaps, I knew something was wrong. I'm amazed that they wouldn't have felt anything.
 
There are two types of pilots - those that have landed gear up, and those who will.

There are three classes of pilots, those that have not, those that have, and those that will again.

The key is to stay in the first class, those that have not.
 
Nonsense. What about the folks who retire with tens of thousands of hours never once landed gear up?

They remained in the "those that will" section. That is the key, to never leave that group.
 
...maybe I'm weird but I do a GUMPS check about 4 times before I'm on short final. We've got a little placard thing on the dash with the takeoff and landing checklists as well but I've just gotten myself used to a quick flow check from left to right to make sure I've got it done. It's so easy to forget or think you did it already and if you wait until a certain point to do it every time inevitably your workload will increase or something will come up and you'll forget. So, I make sure that I check multiple times. Usually the first is either when the tower clears me to the downwind or whatever or if I'm at an uncontrolled it's when I make my 10 mile call. Then I'll check everything again when I'm on downwind and the final time a quick scan when I turn final - just checking to make sure I'm on the fullest tank and that my pump is on.
 
you really need a second gear check EVERY landing, on final.

The gear check I make on final is the third check [feel switch position, confirm green light, double-check mechanical indicator on the floor], often with another one coming over the trees on short final [green light only, short final is busy].
 
When the landing approach is changed unexpectedly due to tower instructions (changed runway, straight in versus pattern approach, etc.), it is surprisingly easy to focus on those changes and to ignore normal procedures. That said, there are always opportunities to catch mistakes before they bite you. That requires active involvement in cockpit management rather than passive compliance with a partial set of instructions. Pilots can't afford to become passengers in the planes they are flying, but that happens far too often. Even the Navy is not immune to pilot mistakes, hence their tower instruction to check gear on final approach - even if they have a visual that the gear is down.
 
The closest I have ever come to a gear up on the ground was one time in a Aztec, when I had about 100hrs in it, rushed through my after landing flow and realized to my horror, that instead of retracting the flaps, I had put the gear handle up…yikes! Would have had an unfortunate effect on my career were it not for the air/ground squat switch. Didn't help, of course, that the gear and flap selectors on the Aztec are about 6 inches from one another, and move in exactly the same fashion.

Notwithstanding poor training, other circumstances, like after a go around or missed approach - really, anything that disrupts the normal routine can get you. In the 1980s I used to fly Metroliners. The day was a total loss if I couldn't cross the outer marker at 250kts. which was a lot like taking a freeway off-ramp at 100. You know you were really rushed when after you landed it dawned on you that the before landing checklist never got completed.

So, the two suggestions I have for preventing these kind of mishaps are 1.) Use the landing gear as a method for slowing the aircraft down, and plan your pattern entry so as to have the gear down at the same point all the time…downwind, or whatever. Or, at the same altitude above the field, say 1000ft. Or crossing the final approach fix when IFR. Also, if you ever hear the gear horn, either because the throttle was too far back or the flaps were extended beyond a certain setting - recognize you just made a mistake, don't do it again. 2.)Finally, I see a similarity with gear selectors and firearm safety - inasmuch as it's not good enough to just be pretty sure that a handgun is unloaded…when the magazine is out of it, the slide open and you've checked 3 times, you KNOW it's unloaded. Same with the gear, make dam sure!
 
Never underestimate the ability of a person to ignore even a loud horn. We can do amazing things.

OK, now the only answer (partial) is totally ingrained habits.
I call out "3 green" out loud (after actually looking)
on downwind,
on base,
on turning final,
and just going over the fence.
(guys who fly with me think I am nuts)
Will it keep me from ever making a mistake?
Dunno, but I'm trying. (shrug)

Was your CFI talking to my CFI? :D Gear down at mid field downwind. Check for 3 green. Plus, you can feel the gear go down in the rudder pedals of that old Arrow. Turn base, check 3 green. Turn final, check 3 green. Short final, check 3 green.

He never had a gear up landing. He didn't plan on having one, either. I don't, either. In our club you pay the first $1000 if you damage a plane. I could write that check, no problem. But, the embarrassment would kill me. :D

I don't know how those guys missed the horn in that plane. Even with noise cancelling headsets the one in the Arrow is downright annoying. As it should be. I'm sure it is in that plane, as well.
 
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