Alaska Airlines 737 Wing Touched Runway at Sitka Airport...No Injuries

[FN FAL]

Airline: plane's wing touched runway during rough landing

Associated Press

According to the Associated Press, Alaska Airlines officials Thursday say the right wing of a Boeing 737 jetliner actually touched the runway during a rough landing at the Sitka airport earlier this month.

Airline spokeswoman Amanda Tobin says damage was confined to scrapes and a broken wingtip light, and that there was no structural damage to the aircraft. Some passengers on Flight 70 said they thought the plane was going to crash when it veered sharply moments before touchdown on December seventh.

No injuries were reported among the 44 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants. Airline mechanics came from Seattle to repair the damage resulting from the hard landing. The Boeing 737-400 jet went back into regular service after the repairs.

 

[DrewBlows]

Holy Moley! Any guesses as to what bank angle would be required to touch a wing tip in a 737-400? I would have thought that the engine would have scraped before a wing tip. Those engines hang pretty low on the -400.

 

[wmuflyguy]

Yea, I would have figure the engine would smack first.

 

[Skyboy722]

You know, I had heard that the wingtip would hit before the nacelle, but never really believed it. Just doesn't look like it would. But I guess they must be right. But if you're missing the main on that side, then you're gonna have some buffing to do...

 

[DrewBlows]

You know, I had heard that the wingtip would hit before the nacelle, but never really believed it. Just doesn't look like it would. But I guess they must be right. But if you're missing the main on that side, then you're gonna have some buffing to do...

Looking at this picture I guess that is probably right. I hadn't really thought about the geometry, but the engines are ahead of the wing, which is swept (therefore the tips are well behind the engines). On landing you are going to be nose up (usually), which means that the engines will be farther in the air, due to their relative proximity to the landing gear. The combination of bank and pitch means that the wingtip will hit before the engine. I think the only way an engine would hit is if the airplane were wheelbarraling (which is unlikely).

 

[WMUchickenhawk]

If the wingtip touch was at wheel contact with the ground, I would think that the nacelle would touch first. But if the wheels were higher, say 10 feet AGL, a steeper bank angle could make the wingtip touch sooner.

 

[CGHercster]

I think the wheel to nacelle distance is short enough that the wing tip would have to strike first in an overbanked banked landing.