AA retracted nose gear landing at O'Hare

[spinproof]

E-MAIL STORY
Plane Makes Safe Emergency Landing in Ill.Tuesday, June 20, 2006
CHICAGO — An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing Tuesday morning at O'Hare International Airport after reporting difficulties with its front landing gear, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 1740, traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, landed safely and there were no immediate reports of injuries. The jet landed on its rear wheels and coasted before its nose touched down, sending up sparks.
The plane carried 136 passengers and crew, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The FAA said it was investigating.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[pipe]

136 people in an MD-80 from LAX to ORD. The pax probably didn't care if they got out through a giant hole in the fuselage after the crash - just as long as they could get out!

 

[FN FAL]

Where's all the cheerleaders? Jeeze, you'd think the Jet Blue guys were going to get a medal from the president when they landed that one out west.

 

[Spectre]

Where's all the cheerleaders? Jeeze, you'd think the Jet Blue guys were going to get a medal from the president when they landed that one out west.

...American didn't have TV's on their old MD-80s, so I guess they won't make the evening news either...and definitely not Saturday Night Live!

 

[Ty Webb]

.

What a way to wrap up a redeye . . . . . Nice job, guys.:beer:





.

 

[Metro752]

Great landing!

 

[FN FAL]

Great landing!

Any landing you can waltz away from...

 

[ils2minimums]

AOL Link

This is from AOL. It may not work...Jet Lands Safely Without Nose Gear

The video is also on CBSnews.com

 

[clickclickboom]

very nice

yet another example of our profession in action.. great job

 

[Hagar17]

Nice!!!

yet another example of our profession in action.. great job

clickclickboom:

Speaking of nice, nice BOMBS!!

Hag

 

[Weasil]

I was on the bus to the parking lot at ORD today and overheard two gate agents discussing this. They were convinced that the only reason everybody didn't die was because it was an act of God. No mention of the pilots.

 

[Clipper49]

Sure hope the hydraulic pumps were High and On.

 

[Turtlesfly]

Any landing you can waltz away from...

FN . . . you know if you have over 7,000 posts and you joined in the end of 2003, that means that you have averaged over 8 posts every single day without stopping - Christmas, Halloween . . . every day . . . . holy crap dude get a life! At some point you just like hearing yourself talk.

 

[hawk16e]

Sure hope the hydraulic pumps were High and On.

Don't the nose and mains use the same hyd system? Or the same emerg handle?

Looking at the other acrivity(taxiing airplanes/bus driving aroundand lack of fire trucks) it almost looked like a nonevent.

Good Job

 

[Cheesemo]

Agree with Hawk

It's almost as if they expected him to taxi to the gate!

Write up: aircraft required full power to taxi after landing.

Nice job by A/A guys up front

Cheers

 

[deceptibum]

The landing gear on the -80 is on the right hydraulic system. As for the HYD pumps, there are technically 4. The HIGH part refers to 1 of 3 positions on the engine driven pumps off each respective engine(OFF, LOW-1500psi, and HIGH-3000psi). The ON part refers to the AUX electric pump and the hydro-mechanical TRANSFER pump. Too much technical info I know, but there it is for those who are curious!!!!

 

[Hobiehawker]

Nice job by A/A guys up front

Cheers

Did they really pull off a miracle?

Like the JetBlue landing, i'm having a difficult time seeing why the outcome shouldn't have been successful.

 

[ironspud]

Sure hope the hydraulic pumps were High and On.

They weren't.

At least according to somebody on airliners.net. Would not be shocking news.

 

[Vastly Underemp]

The pumps weren't High and ON?????????

The LuftenFuhrers strike again....how's my job doing?

 

[bubbers44]

I am sure they were hi and on. Most of us have forgotten at least once and quickly realized why the gear extension isn't quite normal and turn them on. Pilots have reported nose gear extension problems that were finally corrected by wiggling the tiller wheel because the nose gear splash panels were hanging it up and wiggling the tiller let it extend. Apparently no one was interested in suggesting using the technique as a procedure.

 

[viking737]

Investigation of the S80 NLG up landing in ORD on Tuesday continues. At this point it appears the spray deflector broke at some point after pushback at LAX. When the gear was retracted the spray deflector became lodged in the wheel well preventing the NLG from extending. The pushback sequence at LAX was normal and conducted using a regular tug and towbar. We are also investigating previous pushbacks and the possibility of FOD on the taxiway or runway at LAX.

Maintenance has launched a fleet-wide inspection of the S80 spray deflectors with over 200 aircraft completed as of this morning. Some additional cracked spray deflectors were found. Some of the damage is very subtle, we ask S80 crews to pay special attention to preflighting the NLG and call Maintenance if you have any question regarding the spray deflector.

Congrats to CA ----- and F/O --- for a job well done.

Captain ----- - Mgr, Flt Ops Quality Control

 

[TWA Dude]

When the gear was retracted the spray deflector became lodged in the wheel well preventing the NLG from extending.

Interesting. Same thing happened to a 717 back in 2001, caused by jumping a chock. (And FYI, in the 717 hydraulics are always HI (3000psi).)

 

[bubbers44]

Seems like spray deflectors should be designed and manufactured to prevent problems not cause them.

 

[SKYW Pilot]

That was an amazing job! I was totally impressed at how long they held that nose wheel off the ground. Glad everybody's ok.

 

[Gorilla]

Interesting how once the nose made contact, those boys apparently floored the main brakes. It looks like there was some rub on the mains - lots of smoke - as if the anti-skid wasn't working correctly.

At least they could deplane with no stairs! Just take a short step down from door 1L.

The MD-80 fleet at AA, and I'm sure at others, is showing its age a bit. Our problem at AA is the staggering numbers we have, with no current way to replace them that makes sense financially.

 

[EagleRJ]

Interesting how once the nose made contact, those boys apparently floored the main brakes. It looks like there was some rub on the mains - lots of smoke - as if the anti-skid wasn't working correctly.

I noticed that too. It looked like the mains locked up about halfway through the ground roll. I wonder if the anti-skid is armed by the nose gear WOW switch?

A lot of that smoke- and maybe even some debris- was injested by the engines. You can see a lot of it being pumped out the other end. Looks like a detailed borescope is in order for both engines.

 

[kjokmo]

The anti-skid system on the MD80 should operate as long as the speed is above 10 knots with main wheel spin up and the gear handle is in the down position or the emergency gear handle is raised.

The only time the anti-skid system disarms is with the gear handle up, brakes parked, below 10kts, or the switch itself is off.

Saying this however, there are different anti-skid systems for the MD80 that can vary slightly.

hope this may answer some questions.

 

[aa73]

They weren't.

At least according to somebody on airliners.net. Would not be shocking news.

Wow, Ironspud, I guess if someone on Airliners.net says they weren't on, it's definitley a credible source.

FYI, we have TWO (2) oportunities to turn them to High and On... once at the FL 180 silent checklist, and once on the mechanical landing checklist, when it is read and confirmed out loud. It is pretty rare to forget the item, but especially at AA, where we have two opportunities to confirm it.

Nice try at discrediting the pilots for a job well done... but typical of your anti-AA attitude. Pretty cheap shot, man. Not what I'd expect from the usual professionalism from the TWA ranks.

Great job to the crew, then again we learned a lot from the Jetblue crew as well!

73

 

[JP4user]

I Looks like a detailed borescope is in order for both engines.

More like a dual engine change. Thankfully no one was hurt and that is the only thing that matters.