If you forget to lower the wheels, select the 'Go Around Switches.

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Qantas pilots forgot to lower landing gear

Qantas has launched an investigation into the incident.

Qantas has stood down two pilots after they failed to lower the landing gear on a flight into Sydney last week.

Qantas says the flight crew received a cockpit alert after what the airline has described as a "brief communications breakdown".

It says the flight crew on the Melbourne to Sydney service responded quickly to the problem and started "a go around" before landing safely.

The incident has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau while Qantas is carrying out its own investigations.

A spokesman for the Australian and International Pilots Association, Captain Barry Jackson, says the investigation will look at what action the pilots took.

"I don't know if they actually started to climb straight away because normally when you do a go-around you select the go-around switches, the aeroplane will climb rapidly and for some reason it's continued to a lower altitude before it's gone round and that warning has been set off," he said.

later in the day

Two Qantas pilots have been stood down following an incident at Sydney Airport in which they failed to lower their plane's landing gear as it approached the runway.

The incident, confirmed by the airline today, occurred on a Melbourne-Sydney flight on October 26.

The plane reportedly got as low as 700 feet on its approach to the airport before the pilots realised their error and began "go around" procedures.

The pilots also received a audio cockpit alert warning them with the words "gear too low".

In a statement, Qantas said it was taking the incident seriously.

"The flight crew knew all required procedures but there was a brief communications breakdown," the airline said.

"They responded quickly to the situation and instigated a 'go around'. The cockpit alert coincided with their actions. There was no flight-safety issue."

Qantas confirmed that the pilots had been stood down and said further action might be taken after investigations by the airline and the ATSB.