September 2026 | Those Who Won't: Preventing (and Recovering From) Gear-Up Landings

Anyone who flies a retractable-gear aircraft has heard the saying, “There are two categories of pilots: those who have made gear-up landings, and those who will.” Gear-up landings can be pilot-induced or mechanically-induced. In either case, there is a lot you can do as a pilot and aircraft owner to reduce the risk, and to minimize the damage if it does happen to you.

Reducing Pilot-Induced Gear-up Landings

Training, standardization, and repetition are the keys to avoiding an accidental gear-up landing. Training is one of the most important parts of the process. You need to understand your landing gear system completely, including how your aircraft’s landing gear warning system works. In many aircraft, the gear warning system is directly tied to manifold pressure or throttle position. This means that if you find yourself on the back side of the power curve, using higher power than normal, while trying to drop it in on a short runway, your gear warning system may not activate when you need it most.

The solution is standardization and verification. Unless you are competing in a Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) contest, I can’t imagine a good reason to be in this situation to begin with (and I’ve yet to see a retractable STOL aircraft). Standardization begins with choosing a common point for lowering the gear during every approach to landing. In my flying, I always lower the gear when I reach 5nm from the airport (for VFR approaches) or the Final Approach Fix (for IFR approaches). The only exception to this standard process would be during an emergency, which I have a different process for.

As I approach the 5NM or FAF point, I place my hand on the gear lever and do not remove it until the action is complete. My good friend and flight instructor-extraordinaire, Brian Schiff, teaches a three-step process for lowering the landing gear:

1. Gear activation (announce “landing gear coming down”, followed by verification of “three green”)
2. Redirect your attention to another aspect of flying (glidepath, attitude, airspeed, etc.)
3. Re-verification that the gear is down and locked

The goal of this process is to ensure that you avoid expectation bias, the cognitive phenomenon in which we see what we expect to see, rather than what is actually presented to us. It can also be valuable to enlist the help of those flying with us. Anytime that I have someone flying with me in the right seat, I tell them, “You can help with this flight by keeping an eye out for other planes, and to help verify that we have three green landing lights prior to landing.” Passengers and co-pilots alike seem to enjoy the added understanding and responsibility to be a safety monitor of sorts.

Distraction is the enemy of standardization, so it pays to have a process to deal with unexpected situations. Nearly every gear-up landing I am familiar with involved some form of distraction and non-standard approaches to landing. For me, the answer is to address gear lowering early in the approach process, as I described earlier. However, it also pays to include an added check in the process. I reserve a final “GUMP Check” (Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, and Propeller) to the beginning of every final approach. I say it out loud to myself, and will not begin the final approach without completing this step.

That said, the most important thing a pilot can do in an unusual and distracted approach to landing is to cancel the approach entirely and try again under more controlled circumstances. We all know when things are getting complicated and we’re not entirely ahead of the aircraft in our mind. This is when the go-around, or departing the pattern, is our best tool for a successful outcome. If you feel something isn’t right, you are probably right. This includes realizing that your gear is still up while you are on short final. Too many pilots have chosen to try to lower the gear at the last minute, rather than simply add power and perform a safe go-around, followed by a normal approach and landing.

Prevention, Maintenance & Recovery

In addition to training and process, there are several things you can do with the aircraft to stack the odds in your favor. The first is to ensure that your land gear warning system is operating correctly. As noted previously, most gear warning systems are tied to manifold pressure or throttle position. These systems can fall out of adjustment and are easy to test in-flight. With the landing gear stowed, fly to a safe altitude, slow the aircraft and reduce power. Note when and how your gear warning system activates and in what situation it would alert you on your normal approach to landing (should you leave the gear up). If it wouldn’t alert you during normal procedures, talk to your mechanic about adjusting it or change your landing procedures to ensure it will alert in time.

There are also several aftermarket gear warning systems that add voice alerting, and even include ground-proximity-based gear alerting. While they are not inexpensive, they are worth their weight in gold if they prevent you from landing gear-up, even once. Whether you have a standard gear warning horn or an aftermarket system, the alerting should be wired into your aircraft’s intercom system so that you can hear it clearly through your headsets. The best warning in the world is worthless if it is lost in the noise of the cabin.

Gear up incidents, of course, are not always pilot-induced. There are situations where the gear system fails mechanically. Proper maintenance, pre-flight, and in-flight gear checks are your best defense against these situations. Landing gear systems vary greatly between aircraft types, so it pays to spend some time with your mechanic to understand exactly how your landing gear works and what you should be on the lookout for.

Case in point; most Beechcraft utilize a single “sector gear” system driven by an electrical motor, moving pushrods to actuate the landing gear and gear doors. As a pilot, you can check that the system is working properly in a few ways. On the ground, you can look in the gear wells to make sure that uplocks and cables are intact and in the proper position. In the air, you can check the time the system takes to raise or lower the gear. There is also a process in the manufacturer’s manuals explaining how to verify that the gear switches and gear-motor dynamic brake are working properly. Other manufacturers have similar processes and steps to verify that the gear system is working properly.

Lastly, be sure to fully understand and test your aircraft’s emergency gear extension system. In some aircraft, this is easy to do. However, a select few aircraft utilize emergency gear extension systems that require maintenance intervention after having been actuated (I’m looking at you, Piper Comanche…). That said, I believe it still pays to make arrangements with your mechanic and practice the full emergency gear extension process at least once in your training.

Should you experience a gear-up landing, all is not lost. In most cases, the landing itself is uneventful regarding the safety of those onboard and the damage to the aircraft is recoverable. In fact, most gear-up landings are not even considered an aircraft accident and not reportable to the FAA or NTSB unless they result in death, serious injury, or "substantial damage" to the aircraft (hitting the prop and scraping the belly does not constitute “substantial damage”. After ensuring that everyone on board and nearby is safe, you should contact your insurance agency. They can help guide you through the recovery, repair, and claim process. They are also your best resource to ensuring that “amateur recovery” doesn’t do more damage to your aircraft.

Gear up landings happen more often than they should, but they are recoverable for both you and your aircraft. Honesty and openness with your insurance company, your flight instructor and the FAA (if required) will smooth the path forward and get you back in the air as soon as possible. Until next time, I hope you and your families remain safe and healthy, and I wish you Blue Skies.

Jeff Simon is an A&P mechanic, IA, pilot, and aircraft owner. He has spent the last 23 years promoting owner-assisted aircraft maintenance and created the first inspection tool for geared alternator couplings, available at ApproachAviation.com. Jeff is also the creator of SocialFlight, the free mobile app and website that maps more than 20,000 aviation events, hundred-dollar hamburger destinations, and also offers educational aviation videos. Free apps are available for iOS and Android devices, and users can also visit www.SocialFlight.com.

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