Plane Ever Landed Without Landing Gear?

YYZflyer · Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:03 am

Has a pax jet ever made a planed emergency landing without any gear at all? I do remember hearing about a TWA 727 doing this at BOS with foam put out on the runway or something like that. I mean like a jet with engines on the wings. I'd suspect the pilots would burn off most of the fuel to minimize the explosion from the sparks that mix with the jet fuel. What kind of preparations would the flight crew have to make in such a situation? Anyone heard anything or have any ideas? airplane

EMBQA · Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:08 am

I can't think of one case were a commercial plane did a full belly landing. There have been nose or main failures, but never all. The landing gear on a passanger plane are designed to 'free fall' and lock down in an emergency situation.

YYZflyer · Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:10 am

Quoting EMBQA (Reply 1):
The landing gear on a passanger plane are designed to 'free fall' and lock down in an emergency situation.

Thanks for letting me know that. Smile

WTXJET · Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:48 am

On February 19, 1996 a Continental Airlines DC-9 landed at IAH without the landing gear deployed and this was no emergency landing. Simply the pilots failed to lower the gear.

Quoting from the NTSB report, Captain had omitted the 'Hydraulics' item on the in-range checklist and the F/O failed to detect the error, hydraulic pressure was not available to lower the landing gear and deploy the flaps.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=FTW96FA118&rpt=fi

This is only me second post, please be kind.

zeke · Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:00 pm

Can recall a VS A340 with a partial gear up into LHR on November 5, 1997. Video of a 737 doing similar http://www.metacafe.com/watch/32060/737_gear_up/

PanAm747 · Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:04 pm

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19960219-0

There's another link to the CO incident described.

Quote:
This is only me second post, please be kind.

You did fantastic!! Stated your evidence, posted your link - welcome to the forum! bigthumbsup

egghead · Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:45 pm

http://www.historyofpia.com/acciphoto.htm

Not an emergency, pilots just forgot!

UAL747 · Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:49 pm

A military cargo plane (I can't remember when or where, though it was in the past year) landed without gear. I want to say it was in California, but I'm not sure. It was on CNN and they shut down one of the engines as well. (It was a prop plane).

UAL

rolfen · Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:08 pm

Here is a movie of a 737 landing with only one of the 2 main gears down:

http://www.plane-spotter.net/movies/Landing-737%20Gearup.mpg

avconsultant · Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:11 pm

I thought there was an Eastern 727 incident in BHM similar to the CO incident.

FlyHoss · Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:29 pm

From the NTSB website, here's some details of a Continental Express Beech 1900 executing an intentional (all) gear up emergency landing (sorry for the all capital letters; I copied it directly from the site):

CONTINENTAL EXPRESS FLIGHT 206, A BEECH 1900 AIRLINER, DEPARTED DENVER, CO, FOR NORTH PLATTE, NE. DURING DESCENT FOR LANDING, PILOT ATTEMPTED TO LOWER GEAR. LEFT MAIN AND NOSE GEARS LOCKED DOWN BUT RIGHT MAIN STUCK IN INTERMEDIATE POSITION. PILOT ATTEMPTED TO EXTEND GEAR VIA MANUAL EXTENSION AND ACCELERATED 'G' MANEUVERS. BOTH ATTEMPTS FAILED. FLIGHT RETURNED TO DENVER AND PILOT EXECUTED WHEELS-UP LANDING. POST-INCIDENT EXAMINATION DISCLOSED FOREIGN MATERIAL LODGED IN POPPET SEAT AND RETAINER OF LANDING GEAR ACTUATOR EXTEND PORT. ACTUATOR WAS CLEANED, REASSEMBLED, AND FUNCTIONALLY TESTED OK. FOREIGN SUBSTANCE WAS ANALYZED BY FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND IDENTIFIED AS LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (I.E. PLASTIC BAG OR DUST COVER). RESIDUE ON FOREIGN SUBSTANCE WAS IDENTIFIED AS MIL-H-5606 HYDRAULIC FLUID. INVESTIGATION DISCLOSED SUBSTANCE COULD HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED INTO ACTUATOR DURING MANUFACTURE OR INTO HYDRAULIC SYSTEM DURING AIRCRAFT ASSEMBLY

The aircraft was just a few weeks old at the time of the incident. It was ferried from DEN to BJC just a few days later for repairs and returned to the line flying within a few weeks.

pilotaydin · Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:12 pm

I remember reading a long time ago that the Conti Dc9 had no problems with the gear, and the Captain was talking about tennis while on final.....

duece Smile

stirling · Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:40 pm

What was the airport where the 737 landing incident happened?

n272wa · Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:49 pm

Back some years ago, I remember reading about a British Airways ATP executed a partial gear up landing on a flight from Connaught/Knock/Ireland West Airport (NOC) to Manchester (MAN). Roughly 60 pax onboard, no injuries.

noelg · Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:07 pm

There's also the KLM Cityhopper Fokker 50 that made a landing with one of the main gear not locked, the crew for "Airport" just happened to be there and caught the whole thing on film.

bx737 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:49 am

I'm not fully sure of the date but it was mid 1970s apparently a Spantax CV990 made a wheels up landing in Cologne with no injuries on board. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service. IIRC the underneath of the CV990 in the museum in Lucerne was used for the repair job.

nycflyer · Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:49 am

didn't this happen in the movie "Airplane"??

Dtw757 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:18 am

Quoting NYCFlyer (Reply 16):
didn't this happen in the movie "Airplane"??

Surely you can't be serious! rotfl

Adam727 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:39 am

I have seen where a Southwest jet landed with the nose gear and one main gear down the other main gear was up. I saw it on airdisaster.com

XXXX10 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 3:48 am

Seem to remember an incident at DXB, An Il 86 landed without the gear extended, can anyone confirm?

Gr8Circle · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:02 am

Didn't a UA 744 make a belly landing sometime in the early 90's....I distinctly remember reading about it and even seeing a pic in the NP's....maybe I'm wrong..... Confused

steeler83 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:17 am

Quoting DTW757 (Reply 17):
Surely you can't be serious!

Euhh... Don't call him shirley... Big grin

I think I remember seeing on the news a twin engine cessna land on its belly on Lebanon Church Rd near the PA-51 clover leaf when attempting an emergency landing at AGC. This was more than ten years ago...

Olympus69 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:28 am

The 707 in 'Airplane' started out with its gear down, but it definitely took off again without landing gear Smile

breiz · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:30 am

Quoting YYZflyer (Thread starter):
Has a pax jet ever made a planed emergency landing without any gear at all?

I suppose this would qualify:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...940DE4DD113FF93BA1575BC0A96E948260
and this
http://forums.airlinepilotcentral.com/archive/index.php/t-597.html

georgiaame · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:32 am

Yes.

But not well

steeler83 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:35 am

Quoting Olympus69 (Reply 22):
The 707 in 'Airplane' started out with its gear down, but it definitely took off again without landing gear

Yeah, that's right!!! OTTO, that inflatable autopilot, or "OTTOpilot," flew that thing. That movie was one of the funniest movies ever made, and still is!!! {ROTFL}
"Hey, where's the forklift?"
"oh, uh, it's over by the baggage loader"
[plane crashes into terminal]

"The white zone is for loading and unloading passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone."
"Betty, don't start with your white zone s*** again..."
"Don't tell me which zone is for loading and which zone is for unloading!"

OPNLguy · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:36 am

Frontier 737-200 at CPR, 1983...

http://members.tripod.com/~LAMKINS/FL_737CPR.jpg

YYZflyer · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:37 am

Quoting Breiz (Reply 23):
http://forums.airlinepilotcentral.com/archive/index.php/t-597.html

I'm probably reading it wrong but it says the passengers got off within 20 mins. How long does it take to get off a plane in an emergency with little fire?

[Edited 2006-03-15 20:37:42]

steeler83 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:59 am

Quoting NYCFlyer (Reply 16):
didn't this happen in the movie "Airplane"??

I think what happened was the plane landed with its gear down and in tact. The plane could not stop, and Ted Striker, apparently "put his foot on the brakes as if operating a car" and the landing gear fell off. [On any normal aircraft, those pedals work the rudder; not the brakes... This was a rediculous movie all the way around..] rotfl

Dtw757 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:08 am

Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 21):
Quoting DTW757 (Reply 17):
Surely you can't be serious!

Euhh... Don't call him shirley...

Glad someone got it

Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 28):
On any normal aircraft, those pedals work the rudder; not the brakes...

Most aircraft that I've flown apply the brakes with the tops of the rudder pedals. I should add that the rudder pedals are split in half. Pushing on the lower portion works the rudder and pushing the upper portion works the brakes.

[Edited 2006-03-15 21:11:21]

steeler83 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:39 am

Quoting DTW757 (Reply 29):
Glad someone got it

Any time

Quoting DTW757 (Reply 29):
Most aircraft that I've flown apply the brakes with the tops of the rudder pedals. I should add that the rudder pedals are split in half. Pushing on the lower portion works the rudder and pushing the upper portion works the brakes.

I was under the impression that the pedals controled the rudder. I saw that while watching a documentary on USAir 427, when they were talking about how the rudder got messed up and sent the 733 into that fatal nose dive while on approach to PIT. Thank you for correcting me. thumbsup

EMBQA · Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:15 am

Quoting OPNLguy (Reply 26):
Frontier 737-200 at CPR, 1983...

OOPS..!! Just read the NTSB report. They just forgot to lower the gear....!! D'ooh..!!

tu114 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:24 am

The Il-62 is actually specifically designed to survive landings with no landing gear - there's a specially strengthened beam along the belly of the aircraft to allow this. Not sure whether it's actually ever been proven in real life though.

levg79 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:55 am

Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 28):
On any normal aircraft, those pedals work the rudder; not the brakes... This was a rediculous movie all the way around.

And don't forget the mechanic opening the hood and checking oil at LAX...

Roger Roger, what's our vector Victor?

Dtw757 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:52 am

Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 30):
was under the impression that the pedals controled the rudder. I saw that while watching a documentary on USAir 427, when they were talking about how the rudder got messed up and sent the 733 into that fatal nose dive while on approach to PIT. Thank you for correcting me.

You're welcome. I often wondered how it all worked myself until I started flying. Also on many light aircraft and some small jets the rudder pedals have 3 jobs, rudder control, brakes and steering the aircraft while it is on the ground. Steering with your feet takes some getting used to when you first start flying. You want to grab the yoke to turn the plane. On larger aircraft steering on the ground is controlled with a tiller; it's sort of like a small steering wheel next to the pilot's seat.

vasanthd · Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:38 am

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Click here for bigger photo!

Quote:
Our local FOX News TV affiliate in Dallas reported in error that this Skywest CRJ's nose gear collapsed just as she was making her right turn toward the terminal after a normal landing, de-cel, and roll-out. She actually landed with the gear up. There were no injuries. Here airport authorities try to figure out what to do next.

--Vas

Shamrock133 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:39 am

I did a gear up landing two months ago in a Cessna 172RG.......the right main gear wouldn't extend....even after measures to use the emergency hand pump. We ended up troubleshooting and burning off fuel for an hour and just decided to retract the nose and left main gear and did a belly landing at New Bedford, Ma airport(EWB).

Plane was still in decent shape afterwards, needs a new prop and some antennas but it will fly again.

EMBQA · Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:47 am

Quoting Tu114 (Reply 32):
The Il-62 is actually specifically designed to survive landings with no landing gear - there's a specially strengthened beam along the belly of the aircraft to allow this. Not sure whether it's actually ever been proven in real life though.

It's not unique.....all the aircraft I've worked on have this as well. I know the Embraer ERJ has this...

steeler83 · Thu Mar 16, 2006 1:55 pm

Quoting Levg79 (Reply 33):
And don't forget the mechanic opening the hood and checking oil at LAX...

Oh yeah, that was funny as hell!!! "aaaaaaahhhh" [crash]

Quoting Levg79 (Reply 33):
Roger Roger, what's our vector Victor?

"Roger" [huh?]
"Roger, Over" [What? Huh?... Who?] *plane takes off*
How about McCroskey and that other goofy ATC named Johnny...
"Looks like I picked a wrong week to quit smoking, drinking, taking emphetimines, sniffing glue..."
"That fog is getting thincker..."
Johnny: "And Leon is getting...laa-aa-aarr-ger" rotfl

DTW757, that all sounds rather confusing at first. Watch me... If I ever learn how to fly, I'll probably hit the wrong pedal or lever and back into something or pull a "It's-over-by-the-baggage-loader" like on "Airplane" to which some of us including yours truely are referring... Wink

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