Three Greens
Gear management, distraction, and the Arrow's most expensive omission
The scenario
Field: Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport (KBKV), Brooksville, FL — elevation 76 ft MSL. You're returning from a local flight and have been cleared to land Runway 09, the 7,001-ft concrete runway. Tower is active (ATCT hours 0700–2200). Class D airspace, ceiling 1,500 ft MSL.
Aircraft: Piper Arrow (PA-28R-201), fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360, 200 hp, constant-speed prop, hydraulically actuated retractable gear. You are the sole occupant; aircraft is within all limits. Fuel selector is on LEFT.
Situation: It's been a busy pattern. On the 45° entry to the downwind for Runway 09, tower called traffic — a Cessna on a long final for Runway 27 — and you spent 30 seconds heads-outside scanning. You acknowledged, found the traffic, and continued. You're now abeam the numbers on left downwind for Runway 09, 1,000 ft AGL, 100 KIAS.
The distraction was brief and felt routine. But the Arrow's gear lever is still where you left it after climbout — and you haven't run GUMPS.
- {'label': 'Field', 'value': 'KBKV · Brooksville–Tampa Bay'}
- {'label': 'Runways', 'value': '3/21 · 9/27'}
- {'label': 'Elevation', 'value': '76 ft'}
- {'label': 'Aircraft', 'value': 'PA-28R'}
- {'label': 'Dominant phase', 'value': 'Landing / Cruise'}
The decision
Before we put you in the cockpit — which of these Arrow-specific gear facts are already in your head? (Pick all that apply; this records your baseline.)
What the record shows
What the NTSB files show
Gear-up landings in the Piper Arrow are not rare events — they appear in the NTSB database with regularity, and the probable cause language is nearly identical across cases spanning decades: the pilot failed to extend the landing gear before landing, typically due to distraction and failure to conduct the before-landing checklist.
In CEN24LA288 (2024), a PA-28R-180 pilot was distracted by skydiving operations and difficulty locating an unfamiliar airport — the before-landing checklist was never run, and the aircraft landed with the left main and nose gear not fully locked. In CEN25LA133 (2025), a PA-28R-201T pilot was distracted by an external seatbelt issue and another aircraft in the pattern — same result. In CEN25LA120 (2025), an instructional flight landed gear-up because radio traffic distracted both the student and the flight instructor, and neither verified gear position.
The mechanical failure cases (WPR22LA040, CEN11LA418) add a second layer: when the hydraulic system does fail, the Arrow has a manual emergency free-fall extension system — and in CEN11LA418, the pilot did not use it, landing wheels-up despite having the tool available.
The pattern is consistent: distraction breaks the checklist loop; the warning horn is silenced or rationalized away; the final check on short final is skipped; the aircraft lands on its belly. The Arrow's three-layer protection — GUMPS discipline, the gear warning horn, and the three-green final check — must all be used, because any one of them alone can be defeated by a single moment of inattention.
NOTE: The specific accidents cited above occurred at various airports across the United States — NOT at Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport (KBKV). This scenario is localized to KBKV for training purposes only.
Key lesson — GUMPS on downwind, every pattern, every time — not when you remember, not after the traffic call, not 'on base.' The Arrow's gear warning horn is a backup, not a primary reminder. Three green lights on short final is the last gate. Distraction is not an excuse; it is the expected operating environment, and the checklist is the defense against it.
Debrief — teaching points
GUMPS on downwind — not when you feel like it.
The Arrow's before-landing checklist anchor is abeam the numbers on downwind: Gas (fuel selector LEFT or RIGHT, not OFF), Undercarriage DOWN (lever down, wait for three greens), Mixture rich, Prop full forward, Seatbelts. Running it at a fixed, consistent point in the pattern — before workload rises on base and final — is the primary defense against gear-up landings. Deferring it to base or final means running it in a higher-workload environment where a second distraction can defeat it.
The gear warning horn is a backup, not a cue.
The Arrow's gear warning horn activates when manifold pressure drops below approximately 12 in. Hg with the gear retracted. It is a last-resort backup — not the intended trigger for gear extension. Pilots who rely on the horn as their primary gear reminder are one horn silence button away from a gear-up landing. More importantly, the horn can be rationalized away ('must be a malfunction') or silenced at exactly the moment it is most needed. Use GUMPS; let the horn be the backup it was designed to be.
Three greens on short final — verbalize it.
The final check before touchdown in the Arrow is a verbal callout: 'Gear — three greens, down and locked.' Three green lights confirm all three gear are extended and locked. No greens, a red light, or an amber light means do not land — execute a go-around and troubleshoot at altitude. The verbalized callout is not bureaucratic theater; it forces a deliberate scan of the indicator panel at the moment it matters most, and it catches the burned-out bulb or the gear that didn't fully lock.
Distraction is the mechanism, not the excuse.
Every NTSB gear-up landing narrative in the Arrow includes a distraction: a traffic call, a radio exchange, an unfamiliar airport, a passenger comment, a seatbelt issue. Distraction is not an unusual event — it is the normal operating environment. The checklist and the fixed-point habit exist precisely to survive distraction. When a distraction breaks your checklist loop, the correct response is to restart the checklist from the beginning, not to assume you completed it.
Know the Arrow's emergency gear extension — and use it.
The Arrow's landing gear is hydraulically actuated. If the hydraulic system fails to extend the gear normally, the aircraft has a manual emergency extension system: a handle (location varies by model — know yours) that releases hydraulic pressure and allows the gear to free-fall and lock under gravity. In NTSB CEN11LA418, the power pack motor failed and the pilot did not use the emergency extension system — landing wheels-up despite having the tool available. If normal extension fails, do not land. Climb to a safe altitude, consult the POH emergency procedure, use the manual extension, confirm three greens, then land.
Built from the real accident record
Composite scenario built from multiple PA-28R gear-up landing events (CEN24LA288, WPR22LA040, CEN11LA418, CEN25LA133, CEN25LA120) and class-peer retractable-single gear-up events (ERA26LA045, CEN26LA028, WPR26LA016, ERA25LA343, CEN25LA319). Anonymized and localized to KBKV.
NTSB reports: CEN24LA288 · WPR22LA040 · CEN11LA418 · CEN25LA133 · CEN25LA120 · ERA26LA045 · CEN26LA028 · WPR26LA016 · ERA25LA343 · CEN25LA319 · GAA17CA105 · ERA21LA119
ACS tasks: PA.IV.A — Normal Approach and Landing · PA.IV.B — Normal Approach and Landing — Complex Aircraft Systems · PA.I.H — Human Factors · PA.IX.C — Emergency Equipment and Survival Gear
Step through the full decision tree, make the calls, and see where each choice leads — then debrief it with your CFI.
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