Aural warnings useless in this case - Curt Lewis

Russian investigators: Air Samara pilots blamed for landing accident

Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) has blamed Air Samara pilots for the hard landing accident of a Beechcraft B300 on Nov. 25, 2014.

The aircraft, which belongs to State Transport Leasing Co., made a hard landing without gear at Samara Kurumoch International Airport. There were no passengers on board during the technical flight and the pilots were not injured.

According to IAC statement, the crew missed the standard operation of gear extension while landing and did not respond the alarm warning the landing gear was not extended, which led to the hard landing without gear. The aircraft rolled off the runway and was seriously damaged.

Authorities accused the carrier of failing to comply with rules on flight information collection and analysis. Air Samara's air operator's certificate was suspended shortly after the incident and canceled in February 2015.

During an ILS approach to runway 23 at Samara, the flaps were selected. However the crew did not use the Final Approach Checklist. They forgot to lower the undercarriage and did not check the position during final approach. The airplane's EGPWS issued several warnings: "Too Low Gear", "Caution Terrain", "Too Low Terrain", and "Terrain Ahead Pull Up". The flight crew assumed these warning were false and ignored them. The aircraft landed gear up and slid to the right off the side of the runway. There was no fire.