Aident to the GAF N22C "Nomad" registered VH-ATO on 17/08/2018 at Noumea Magenta

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation published in December 2019. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference.

Note: The following information is principally based on the pilot’s statements. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1 - History of the flight

On completion of an aerial photography flight of around forty minutes, the pilot forgot to lower the landing gear during the approach. On landing, the aeroplane came into contact with the runway with the landing gear retracted and slid over a distance of around 200 metres until coming to a standstill.

2 - Additional information

The pilot said that the landing gear up audible warning was inoperative.

He specified that on first contact with the tower controller, he was cleared to join the final approach for runway 17 from his position. This meant that the time between aligning with the final approach path and landing was short which increased his workload. He explained that he had flown a high rate of descent as the aeroplane was close to the runway.

He thought that he could have reduced his workload if he had asked to fly an aerodrome circuit which would have allowed him to carry out the before landing checks and not forget to extend the landing gear.