NTSB Factual Report

The pilot, who had just retracted the landing gear on the low wing airplane as part of the takeoff sequence, was advised by one of his passengers that fuel was streaming out from under one of the fuel tank caps. After confirming that there was fuel streaming from under the cap, the pilot, since he had enough runway remaining to do so, decided to abort the takeoff and land straight ahead. Although he was able to get the airplane back on the ground within the remaining runway, the pilot forgot to extend the landing gear prior to making contact with the runway surface, which resulted in substantial damage to one of the airplane’s bulkheads. The pilot later stated that he had not made sure the fuel caps were secure prior to takeoff, and that he should have done a final walk-around to make sure everything was in order.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear during the aborted takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to perform a thorough preflight inspection.