20020120014449I

(-23) On January 20, 2002, at 1739 hours eastern standard time, at the Orlando Executive Airport, a Piper aztec, N63887, performed a gear-up landing. The aztec sustained minor damage. There were no injuries to the flight crew which consisted of a commercially-rated flight instructor and a private pilot who was undergoing complex airplane training to prepare for his commercial pilot practical test. The private pilot was manipulating the controls. The local training flight originated at the Orlando Executive Airport and was conducted in visual meteorological conditions. The flight crew had previously performed two full stop landings with a "taxi back" for a subsequent take-off. The investigation and interviews with the flight crew revealed that the landing checklist was initiated on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern using the "challenge and response" method. The flight crew was distracted looking for other air traffic that they were to follow for landing. Neither pilot can confirm that three green landing gear lights were checked prior to landing. Also, on this airplane, the landing gear handle is supposed to return to the middle or neutral position when the landing gear fully cycles. Neither pilot checked the position of the handle until returning to the aircraft after the incident to retrieve their belongings. It was observed that the landing gear handle was in the down position and had not returned to neutral.