NTSB Factual Report

On May 30, 2003, about 1545 central daylight time, a Beech 95-B55, N258P, registered to and operated by an individual, landed gear up at the G.V. Montgomery Airport, Forest, Mississippi. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 Personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private-rated pilot-in-command reported no injuries. The flight departed the same airport at 1500.

According to the pilot upon arriving in the vicinity of the destination airport, he checked the weather and the wind sock. He flew across the field, turned down wind for runway 16, slowed the airplane to flap and gear extension speed. He said his "usual procedure" was to reduce manifold pressure to 15 inches, set I5 degrees of flaps, and at the same time "lower" the landing gear. For some reason the only thing he did was to "...lower the flaps this time...the landing gear never crossed [his] mind." He said his passenger and he were talking, and he is usually "very meticulous" about this routine for remembering the landing gear. He could not explain why he "did not follow" his usual routine this time. When he turned base leg he began noticing that the plane was not slowing down like it should and he decided to lower to full flaps. This still "did not alert" him to the fact that the gear was not down. When he turned to final he increased the airspeed to about 100 knots all the way down to short final. He said his usual procedure was after getting set up on final approach, he "always" put his right index finger on the landing gear lights and verbally say "three in the green", but again the landing gear procedure "never entered [his] mind." He held 15 inches of manifold pressure up until the landing flare. After flaring he reduced the power to idle, and immediately the landing gear warning horn started sounding. He said his mind "was stuck on airspeed," and he "immediately" thought it was the "stall warning horn, and lowered the nose a little. There was still no thought of the landing gear. Once he had the plane level going down the runway he remembered thinking that it didn't matter if it stalled and he just kept holding it off and bleeding off airspeed. When the airplane finally touched down, about half way down the runway the "grinding" sound started, and "[he] finally thought about the landing gear."

According to the FAA Inspector's statement, the pilot, was at the crash scene and immediately reported to him "...that he had forgot to put the landing gear down." He further stated he had a checklist but "did not use it." The on scene investigation revealed that the airplane had slid on its belly for over 1,000 feet. The airplane received "substantial damage to the bottom fuselage; to the extent several ribs were ground completely through the thickness of the metal."

NTSB Probable Cause

the failure of the pilot-in-command to extend the landing gear, or use the checklist while on landing approach, resulting in a gear up landing.