19970622016359A

(.4)The pilot reported that while he was on a downwind leg for runway 18, he completed the landing checklist. He said he checked that the landing gear was locked and the green light was on while he was on the base leg. He reported that, 'as I flared to land, I hit the belly of the plane on the runway.' He reported that, 'by then I realized that the aircraft's landing gear had collapsed, and slid down the runway.' Inspection of the airplane revealed damage to the right side of the belly area, particularly on the lower wing strut attach bulkhead and the forward landing gear box bulkhead. The belly skin and associated attaching hardware were ground off approximately three inches on either side of the bulkheads. The aircraft was put on jack stands. The landing gear was cycled numerous times with no anomalies indicated. There were no scratch marks or damage to the landing gear, nor any damage to the landing gear gearbox. Both tires exhibited scuff marks about four inches wide perpendicular to the tire tread, but no rotational scuffing of the tires was noted. (-23) on June 22, 1997 N6280R, a Cessna 172RG sustained substantial damage when the pilot failed to lower the landing gear for landing at Meigs field (cgx), Chicago, IL. The commercial pilot and passenger were not injured.