Comanche accident averted last evening

Just another day of flying in the bay area yesterday - or so I thought.
It was past 7:45 pm. Beautiful evening sunset. Winds 330@12. No gusts.
No turbulence. I was on my third touch and go. A Comanche was inbound
and cleared to land on RWY31. I was cleared for the option (number two)
and requested a short approach. On right downwind, Tower instructed me
to do a Left 360 for separation with the Comanche so as to enable my
"short approach" request. After the 360, I re-entered midfield right
downwind and saw the Comanche go past the numbers... just beginning her
flare. At that very moment, Tower in a very calm (yet urgent) tone said
"No gear. Go around. No landing gear Comanche x-x-Yankee. Go around
now!". My eyes were popping out of my sockets as I saw the Comanche
pull away into the air with less than ten feet distance from the
runway. As I pulled my throttle and descended a few seconds later, I
heard the Comanche pilot thank the controller as he flew the pattern...
his voice shaking in disbelief. He said he did everything he usually
does... not sure how or why he missed extending the landing gear. I
don't think he slept well in the night. Thankfully, plane & pilot got
away without harm.

I have a new level of respect for ATC after what happened today. And an
even higher level of respect for Checklists!

- Aman

Towers at military fields issue a "check gear down" instruction along
with the landing clearance... I always thought that would be a good
idea for GA also.

It usually takes a while to get a Comanche slowed down enough so extending
the gear is more of a necessity. I usually keep my speed up pretty well
until closing in on the field which practically forces me to reach for the
gear lever to get slowed down enough. But things such as long straight in
approaches, or getting slowed down further out can lull you into a sense
of comfort. There's just no substitute for doing the GUMPS check religiously.

"kontiki" wrote in message
...
Towers at military fields issue a "check gear down" instruction along
with the landing clearance... I always thought that would be a good
idea for GA also.

So that's why they do it at KFOK (Gabreski/Suffolk County, NY). Doing touch
& goes there in a fixed-gear Cessna 172, ATC told me "check gear down" each
time. I must have sounded a little snotty when I replied, "I couldn't raise
the gear if I wanted to." On the other hand, I've never heard that at KSTW
and KBAF, which are also mixed-use GA/military fields.

kontiki writes:

Towers at military fields issue a "check gear down" instruction along
with the landing clearance...

Do you have to positively ack the gear down instruction?

D.

--
PGP key at http://www.longhands.org/drg-pgp.txt Key Id:0x507D93DF

Nothing worse than that sinking feeling just before you hear the
tortured sound of metal on the runway. Then discovering you have to use
full power to taxi......
I've made it a habit to do a "short final Checklist"...levers forward,
gear down and locked. It has saved me from that embarassing sinking
feeling a couple times while distracted on short final.
Ol S&B

wrote:

Then discovering you have to use
full power to taxi......

When I first checked out in a retract, I kept having these nightmarish
thoughts "did I remember to lower the gear". This was usually as I was
driving away from the airport.

I mentioned this once to a fellow club member that's also a CFI, and he
responded with "did you need full power to taxi?".

I've no idea why, but I find this incredibly funny.

- Andrew

They do it at KSTJ. The Air National Guard operates the tower there.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

Towers at military fields issue a "check gear down" instruction along
with the landing clearance... I always thought that would be a good
idea for GA also.

There's a field in Southern California (Burbank? Van Nuys?) that has
the word "Wheels" painted near the numbers at the approach end.

Jose
r.a.student retained, though I don't follow the group
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Dan Girellini wrote:

Do you have to positively ack the gear down instruction?

The first time I flew into a military base(in a 172), I got spooked
by the "check gear down" reminder. I thought that maybe the tower
knew something I didn't, so I actually looked out the window to verify
that my gear was still there.

Now when they say "check gear down" I just reply, "gear down and
welded in place".

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

kontiki wrote:

Towers at military fields issue a "check gear down" instruction along
with the landing clearance... I always thought that would be a good
idea for GA also.

Yes, even if you have fixed gear. I landed at Springfield, OH many
years ago and got that admonition with my clearance. I resisted the
urge to reply with the old "down and welded" cliche. Now that I fly a
retract, I agree it wouldn't be a bad idea at all for GA.


Matt