An Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante passenger plane sustained substantial damage in a landing accident at Auckland International Airport (AKL), New Zealand. Both pilots were not injured. ZK-KIP, operating as Eagle Airlines Flight 908, departed Hamilton Airport (HLZ) at 18:03 hours for Auckland. On board were the captain and First Officer only. The aircraft was cleared for an ILS/DME approach to runway 05 at Auckland International Airport, and at the appropriate stage of the approach, the crew selected the undercarriage down. The left main wheel and the nosewheel lowered normally, but an unsafe indication was shown for the right main wheel. A low run was made past the control tower, and the controller verified that the right main wheel was not extended. Recycling the undercarriage selector had no effect on the unsafe indication. The aircraft was climbed clear of the circuit, and held at 4000 feet in the vicinity of Surrey NDB (22 nm to the south-east), in which position the crew was able to establish VHF communications with the company’s base at Hamilton Airport. The crew were unable to rectify the problem, despite working through the published emergency procedures and attempting actions suggested by the maintenance staff. Following discussions with operations and maintenance staff, the captain decided that a “wheels-up” landing at Auckland was the preferred option. The “wheels-up” landing is the safest procedure in the event of an undercarriage malfunction of this type. A number of factors including weather, rescue firefighting facilities and the availability of suitable lifting equipment led to the decision to use Auckland in preference to other airports. At 19:49 hours, the aircraft landed “wheels-up” on runway 05, the crew shutting down the engines and electrical systems in the flare just prior to touchdown. The aircraft slid some 400 m before stopping, after which the crew vacated without injury. The aircraft was raised using airbags, to allow the undercarriage to be inspected. During the raising of the aircraft, one of the operator’s maintenance engineers manually released the right main undercarriage doors, and retrieved a large torch a (3-cell Maglite) from within the wheel well. Once the torch had been removed, it was possible to lower the undercarriage successfully. FINDINGS: 1. The aircraft was operating normally prior to the difficulty in lowering the undercarriage. 2. The flight crew acted in accordance with standard operating procedures for an undercarriage malfunction. 3. A “wheels-up” landing at Auckland International Airport was the best option available to the crew in the circumstances. 4. The cause of the undercarriage malfunction was a torch which had been inadvertently left in the right wheel well during maintenance. 5. The presence of the torch was only realised by maintenance staff after the aircraft had taken off. 6. The torch, by becoming wedged against the wheel rim, had prevented the lowering of the right main undercarriage.