Accident Brief: Beech 35 Bonanza Crash In New Jersey

Caldwell, New Jersey/Injuries: 4

The pilot reported that the air traffic tower controller had cleared him to land behind another airplane and that he was distracted searching for the airplane ahead and did not extend the landing gear. He eventually visually located the traffic and continued the approach. He did not hear the landing gear warning horn. During the landing, a passenger yelled that the landing gear was still up, and the tower controller called for a go-around. The pilot pulled back on the yoke and added power. The airplane aerodynamically stalled, the left wing dropped and impacted the ground, and the airplane came to rest in grass left of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable cause(s): The pilot's distraction while looking for traffic, which led to his failure to extend the landing gear before landing, and his exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack during a subsequent goaround, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

Note: The report republished here is from the NTSB and is printed verbatim and in its complete form.