Pulling that CB could come back to haunt you

[pelmet]

C-GPTD, a private Mooney M20J aircraft, was conducting a flight from Boundary Bay (CZBB), BC
to Chilliwack (CYCW), BC with 1 pilot and 1 passenger on board. During cruise, the landing gear
warning horn started to sound. The pilot could not determine the cause of the horn so the circuit
breaker for the landing gear was pulled to stop the sound of the horn and the flight continued to
CYCW. During approach for landing, the pilot completed the pre-landing checklist which included
selecting the gear down. The aircraft landed with the landing gear retracted and came to a stop on
the runway. There were no injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The ELT did not
activate. The cause of the landing gear warning horn is undetermined.


Had a similar issue in a C172RG many years ago as well as a C337. Holding the push to test/gear light would cancel the horn but it wasn't realistic to try to continuously press the button in for anywhere close to the whole flight, which in my case were 2 hours plus long flights. If I remember correctly, pulling a breaker was not possible for the horn anyways but can't be 100% sure anymore. One option is to just leave the gear down. The other, which is what I did was to just shut the master switch off. Then when close to destination, master on, gear down to silence the horn, then make your advisory broadcast/contact ATC. No forgetting the gear.

[iflyforpie]

The 337 I flew you couldn’t hear the horn over the engines.

I never forgot the gear.

[jakeandelwood]

https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/tec ... een-light/

How about this accident? A bad mag results in a pulled breaker that results in a single engine go around with the gear down but the pilot thought it was up, then a crash. Talk about a chain reaction of screw ups!

[pelmet]

The 337 I flew you couldn’t hear the horn over the engines.

I never forgot the gear.

Haven't flown all types of 337 but it sounds like maintenance is required. The horn is loud.

[lownslow]

Never forget your GUMP checks:

Gear down
Undercarriage down
Make sure your gear is down
Please make sure your gear is down

[pelmet]

Never forget your GUMP checks:

Gear down
Undercarriage down
Make sure your gear is down
Please make sure your gear is down

I like to keep my hand on the selector(at least in small aircraft) until I see the appropriate gear down indication(s). Such a technique might have helped the pilot in this incident.

[JasonE]

I like aircraft where you have a physical indication of gear position. The Arrrow I flew had a mirror, the Comanche I fly has the lever in the cockpit.

[pelmet]

I like aircraft where you have a physical indication of gear position. The Arrow I flew had a mirror, the Comanche I fly has the lever in the cockpit.

Can't comment on the Comanche because I only ever flew one once and it was a long time ago(a junky old one that had been brought up from Haiti).

But I did a lot of Arrow flying, all of it in one aircraft(it ended up being crashed in a fatal accident by some guys flying in crappy weather) and don't remember a mirror. But a mirror can be misleading. The gear can be down but not locked in position which may be indicated by a lack of a green light while the view in the mirror looks good. I consider a mirror to be a secondary but pretty much unnecessary confirmation....until there is a problem with the primary indicator, then it can be quite useful.

[jakeandelwood]

Never forget your GUMP checks:

Gear down
Undercarriage down
Make sure your gear is down
Please make sure your gear is down

I like to keep my hand on the selector(at least in small aircraft) until I see the appropriate gear down indication(s). Such a technique might have helped the pilot in this incident.

I was taught that as well.

[PilotDAR]

Never forget your GUMP checks:

Gear down
Undercarriage down
Make sure your gear is down
Please make sure your gear is down

I don't teach this. A friend landed wheels down recently, and died as a result. Instead, observe and state the landing gear position after you have selected it, and then state the surface you intend to land on, it's not that many more words. For non amphibian pilots, you still might be deliberately landing wheels up for an off airport landing or ditching.

"Wheels are down for landing on land" or "wheels are up for landing on the water". There is no good reason to overlook this self discipline. I have learned by self alarm to not depend upon gear warning systems. I have found myself carrying a little power in on occasion, and reminding myself later than I had not pulled the throttles far enough back to hit the gear warning switches - had I not manually checked the gear was down, the warning would not have warned me, and nothing warned me that there was no warning! So, I check manually, and completely every time when flying an RG.

[C.W.E.]

I always use the same gear check that has worked excellent for me for many, many decades.

It is simple and short and safe.

" Where am I landing and where is my gear. "