Gear-Up Belly Landing in a Piper Arrow at Hillsboro Airport

The Afternoon Trip to The Dalles

• One afternoon, I invited my friend Lori Harriger (then Lori Eshelman) for a scenic flight out through the Columbia River Gorge to The Dalles, Oregon, planning to return to Hillsboro Airport in time for dinner.
• On the outbound leg, about halfway to The Dalles, I noticed an unexpected gear warning light on the instrument panel.
• I cycled the landing gear down and back up; the indicator lights reset to normal, and the flight continued without further incident.
• After landing at The Dalles, a mechanic at an on-field FBO gave the gear mechanism a quick look and gave it a thumbs-up.
• The inspection delayed our departure, meaning our flight back west was pushing into dusk.

The Interrupted Pattern at Hillsboro

• Arriving back at Hillsboro Airport at dusk, the traffic pattern was bustling with five or six airplanes all attempting to land and tie down before dark.
• I entered the pattern on the downwind leg for the east-west runway.
• While opposite the airport center, the Hillsboro tower controller called over the radio:

  "Schwartz, we've got a nice long gap—do you want to cut in line and turn base now?"

• "Sure, I can do that!" I responded.
• Cutting immediately into the gap disrupted my routine downwind rhythm. In the sudden hustle to turn base and align with the runway centerline, I bypassed my usual pre-landing checklist (GUMP: Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop).
• The landing gear remained safely tucked up inside the wings.

The Centerline Slide at the Runway Intersection

• I flew a textbook final approach, perfectly aligned over the numbers, and touched down right on the runway centerline just as I had in hundreds of landings before.
• The instant the aircraft touched down:
  • An intense, gravelly grinding roar erupted from beneath the fuselage.
  • The propeller struck the runway pavement, instantly grinding to a halt and lighting up a cascade of red warning lights across the cockpit panel.
  • It immediately dawned on me: Gear-Up Landing.
• To make the situation even more dramatic, the Arrow slid to a complete stop dead center at the intersection of Hillsboro's two crossing runways.
• Neither the primary runway nor the cross-runway could be used. The entire airport had to be closed for two hours, forcing the five planes circling in the pattern to divert to alternate airfields.

The $1,000 Deductible and the Ferry Flight

• Fortunately, both Lori and I walked away completely unharmed without a scratch.
• I paid the $1,000 insurance deductible for the belly and prop repairs.
• The owner of Eagle Flight Center delivered some sage aviator advice:

  "When this plane is repaired over at Aurora State Airport, we want YOU to fly the ferry flight back here. We don't want you getting freaked out or losing your nerve over what happened."

• When the Arrow was repaired, I flew over to Aurora, strapped back into the cockpit, and flew the ferry flight back to Hillsboro.
• I continued flying that Piper Arrow many times afterward, living out the timeless aviation adage:

  "There are two kinds of retractable gear pilots: those who have landed gear-up, and those who will."