Three Greens
The Piper Arrow's gear-up trap — distraction, the GUMPS check, and the emergency extension you may never have used
The scenario
Field: Tampa Executive Airport (KVDF), Tampa, FL — elevation 22 ft MSL. Non-towered, Class G, CTAF 123.075. You are returning to land on Runway 23 after a 1.2-hour local flight. Tampa Class B begins overhead at 3,000 ft MSL; you are well below it in the pattern.
Aircraft: Piper Arrow (PA-28R), fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360, 200 hp. Constant-speed prop. Hydraulically actuated retractable gear. You are the sole occupant; weight and balance within limits. The Arrow is a complex airplane — gear and prop management are part of every pattern.
Situation: You flew a smooth cross-country, listened to a lot of Tampa Approach traffic, and now you're back in the KVDF pattern. It's a busy afternoon — a skydiving operation is active nearby, and there is one other aircraft in the pattern calling out positions on CTAF. You are on the downwind leg for Runway 23, abeam the numbers, at 1,000 ft MSL (~978 ft AGL), 100 KIAS.
The distraction: The other traffic just called a long final for Runway 23 and you are trying to sort out the conflict. You are also mentally reviewing a fuel imbalance you noticed — left tank is noticeably lower than right. Your attention is divided.
Pilot: You — a Private pilot with a complex endorsement, 320 hours total, 40 in type. You know the GUMPS check exists. The question is whether you will actually run it.
- {'label': 'Field', 'value': 'KVDF · Tampa Executive'}
- {'label': 'Runways', 'value': '5/23 · 18/36'}
- {'label': 'Elevation', 'value': '22 ft'}
- {'label': 'Aircraft', 'value': 'PA-28R'}
- {'label': 'Dominant phase', 'value': 'Landing / Takeoff'}
The decision
You are abeam the numbers on downwind for Runway 23, gear still retracted, distracted by traffic and the fuel imbalance. Before the scenario branches — which of these are actually in your head right now? (Pick all that apply — no wrong answers; this records your starting awareness.)
What the record shows
What the NTSB files show — and why it keeps happening in the Arrow
Gear-up landings in the Piper Arrow are not rare. The NTSB database contains a consistent, depressing pattern: a distraction enters the pattern — radio traffic, an unfamiliar airport, a passenger question, a fuel concern — and the before-landing checklist is not completed. The gear handle stays up. The airplane lands on its belly.
CEN24LA288 (2024): A PA-28R-180 pilot was distracted by skydiving operations and difficulty locating an unfamiliar airport. He did not run the before-landing checklist. He landed with the left main and nose gear not fully locked. CEN25LA133 (2025): A PA-28R-201T pilot was distracted by an external seatbelt issue and another aircraft in the pattern. He omitted the prelanding checklist. Gear-up landing. CEN25LA120 (2025): An instructional flight in a PA-28R — the flight instructor became complacent verifying gear position amid radio traffic. Gear-up landing.
The mechanical failure variant is equally instructive. CEN11LA418 (2011): The landing gear power pack motor failed in a PA-28R-201. The pilot did not use the emergency extension system. Wheels-up landing. WPR22LA040 (2021): An improper door rod-end bolt prevented the right main from extending in a PA-28R-200. The pilot landed on two gear. The right wing contacted the runway.
The Arrow has two defenses against gear-up landings: (1) the GUMPS check run at a fixed, habitual point on every downwind — Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop, Switches/Seatbelts — and (2) the three-green verification before every landing. Both must be habits, not intentions. The gear warning horn is a backup, not the primary system — it can be silenced, it can be misread, and it does not tell you whether the gear is locked.
All real accidents cited occurred at airports other than KVDF. The scenario above is a training composite localized to Tampa Executive Airport for instructional purposes.
Key lesson — In the Piper Arrow, the gear-up landing is almost always a checklist failure driven by distraction. GUMPS on downwind — every time, at the same point — and three greens verified before touchdown are the only reliable defenses. Two greens is not three greens. A silenced horn is not a green light. If you do not have three greens, you go around.
Debrief — teaching points
GUMPS is a habit, not a reminder — run it at a fixed point on every downwind.
The Arrow's gear-up accident record is almost entirely a checklist-discipline failure. The fix is not trying harder to remember — it is anchoring GUMPS to a fixed, non-negotiable trigger: abeam the numbers on downwind, every single pattern, regardless of what else is happening. Gas (switch to the fuller tank — LEFT or RIGHT, not BOTH like a Cessna), Undercarriage (gear handle DOWN, confirm the pump cycles), Mixture (rich), Prop (full forward), Switches/Seatbelts. Five items, five seconds. The distraction that kills you is the one that happens right when you would have run the checklist — which is exactly why the trigger must be automatic.
Three greens is the only acceptable gear state for landing — not two, not 'probably fine.'
The Arrow's gear indicator gives you three individual lights: nose, left main, right main. All three must be green before you cross the threshold. A single dark indicator is a mechanical problem until proven otherwise — WPR22LA040 involved a right main that physically could not extend due to an improper bolt. The pilot landed anyway. The result was a wing-strike and substantial damage. If you do not have three greens, you go around, climb to a safe altitude, and troubleshoot with the POH open. 'It's probably just a bulb' is not a checklist item.
The gear warning horn is a backup — it can be silenced, and silence is not a green light.
The Arrow's gear warning horn activates when the throttle is reduced below a threshold with the gear retracted. It is a useful last-ditch alert. It is not the primary gear-check system. Multiple NTSB cases involve pilots who silenced the horn and continued the approach — CEN26LA028 (Beech A36, class-peer) specifically cites 'misidentification of the landing gear warning horn' as a causal factor. Silencing the horn does not extend the gear. The horn's job is to get your attention; your job is to then verify three greens.
Know the Arrow's emergency gear extension before you need it.
The Arrow's gear is hydraulically actuated. When the hydraulic system fails to extend the gear normally, the POH emergency procedure directs you to: recycle the gear (UP then DOWN), check the circuit breaker for the power pack, and if normal extension still fails, use the manual emergency free-fall extension system. The exact handle location and procedure vary by Arrow variant — know your specific airplane's POH cold, not in the moment of a partial-gear indication at 600 ft AGL. CEN11LA418 is the cautionary tale: the power pack motor failed, the emergency extension system was available and functional, and the pilot did not use it. Wheels-up landing.
Distraction is the mechanism — the checklist is the defense.
Every Arrow gear-up accident in the NTSB record has a distraction at its center: an unfamiliar airport, skydiving traffic, a seatbelt issue, radio congestion, a fuel concern. The distraction is not the cause — the cause is allowing the distraction to displace the checklist. The defense is not eliminating distractions (impossible) but making the checklist immune to them. Announce your position on CTAF, then run GUMPS. Handle the fuel selector question, then run GUMPS. The checklist is what you do after the distraction, not instead of it. Per 14 CFR §91.3, you are the PIC and the final authority — which means the discipline to run the checklist is yours alone.
Built from the real accident record
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). All real events occurred at other airports. Localized to Tampa Executive Airport (KVDF).
NTSB reports: CEN24LA288 · WPR22LA040 · CEN11LA418 · CEN25LA133 · CEN25LA120 · ERA26LA045 · CEN26LA028 · WPR26LA016 · ERA25LA343 · CEN25LA319 · GAA17CA105 · ERA17CA149
ACS tasks: PA.IV.A — Normal Approach and Landing · PA.IV.B — Normal Approach and Landing — Complex Aircraft · PA.I.H — Human Factors · PA.IX.A — Emergency Procedures
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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