19980827022259A

Acft landed gear up. (.19) on August 27, 1998, at 1840 eastern daylight time (EDT), a Cessna 210D, N524BL, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage when during an approach for landing, the pilot noticed that his left main landing gear was not completely down. Following several attempts to lower the gear, the pilot subsequently raised the gear and landed the airplane on its belly. Visual meteorological conidtions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under 14 cr part 91. There was no flight plan on file. The pilot and passenger on board the airplane reported no injuries. The cross-country flight originated at coldwater, Michigan, at 1800 EDT, and was en route to Sturgis, Michigan. (.4) the pilot entered a left downwind for runway 6, at the Kirsch Municipal Airport, Sturgis, Michigan. Below 140 knots, the pilot lowered the gear, and put the flaps down. He looked at the landing gear mirror and saw that the left main gear did not look right. The gear position indicator lights were all green, indicating the gear was down and locked. The pilot aborted the approach and climbed out to the west of the airport. The pilot recycled the gear 4 to 5 times. He could get the left gear to swing, but could not get it all the way down into the locked position. The pilot executed a low approach over the field to have the gear configuration verified by people on the ground. After an hour in the air, the pilot retracted the gear and belly-landed the airplane on runway 18. Examination of the left main landing gear revealed that the left main landing gear saddle was cracked through. No other anomalies were found. (-23) left landing gear saddle cracked in half preventing gear from extending normally. Pilot landed aircraft gear up on runway 18-36. Touchdown buckled the fuselage in a "u" pattern shape just aft of the rear bulkhead placing the damage into the accident category.