Narrative:

I extended landing gear switch to down position and observed red 'up' light go out. Distrs due to traffic, a higher than normal approach and slip maneuver (no landing gear drag) caused me to omit a habitual gear/flap check on short final. An alert tower controller called a go around in the flare. Contributing causes: single green 'down' light of that vintage is located in the far lower left side of panel. The red light went out, green light failed to come on because the gear did not extend. 2 lights out are not conspicuous. Summary: malfunctioning switch and failure to perform thorough check of gear down and locked nearly resulted in an accident. A lesson learned.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PLT FAILS TO LOWER LNDG GEAR AND TWR NOTICES WHEN THE ACFT IS FLARING FOR LNDG. TWR DIRECTED A GAR.

Narrative: I EXTENDED LNDG GEAR SWITCH TO DOWN POS AND OBSERVED RED 'UP' LIGHT GO OUT. DISTRS DUE TO TFC, A HIGHER THAN NORMAL APCH AND SLIP MANEUVER (NO LNDG GEAR DRAG) CAUSED ME TO OMIT A HABITUAL GEAR/FLAP CHK ON SHORT FINAL. AN ALERT TWR CTLR CALLED A GAR IN THE FLARE. CONTRIBUTING CAUSES: SINGLE GREEN 'DOWN' LIGHT OF THAT VINTAGE IS LOCATED IN THE FAR LOWER L SIDE OF PANEL. THE RED LIGHT WENT OUT, GREEN LIGHT FAILED TO COME ON BECAUSE THE GEAR DID NOT EXTEND. 2 LIGHTS OUT ARE NOT CONSPICUOUS. SUMMARY: MALFUNCTIONING SWITCH AND FAILURE TO PERFORM THOROUGH CHK OF GEAR DOWN AND LOCKED NEARLY RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT. A LESSON LEARNED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.