Belly landing
![A C-17 Globemaster after a belly-landing at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan (2009). The cause of this was later determined to be pilot error[1][2]](/uploads/202502/01/C-17A_06-0002_No-wheels_Landing_Bagram_Afghanistan_lg1527.jpg)
A belly landing, pancake landing or gear-up landing occurs when an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended and uses its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. Normally the term gear-up landing refers to incidents in which the pilot forgets to extend the landing gear, while belly landing refers to incidents where a mechanical malfunction prevents the pilot from extending the landing gear.