Latest news with #landinggear
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Hydraulic hose failure and broken wire led to crash landing of cargo plane in 2023, NTSB report says
A FedEx plane landed with its landing gear up, skidding off the runway in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2023 after a leak in a hydraulic hose caused the system to fail and a broken wire kept the backup system from working, according to a final National Transportation Safety Board report. Federal Express flight 1376, operating a Boeing 757, took off from Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport-Lovell Field late in the evening of October 4, 2023, headed to Memphis. When the pilots raised the landing gear, the fluid pressure and quantity in the left hydraulic system, which operates the gear, decreased and an alarm sounded in the cockpit. 'Gear disagree. The gear is not coming down,' the first officer is quoted as saying on the cockpit voice recorder. The crew declared an emergency and planned to return to the airport. They repeatedly tried to lower the landing gear using a backup system but were unsuccessful. 'The crew used all available resources and included some non-standard attempts at troubleshooting,' the report said. When landing, the plane skidded for nearly a mile along the ground, crashing into antennas and ending up 830 feet off the end of the runway. The three people on board were not hurt but struggled to open the aircraft doors before evacuating down an emergency slide. The NTSB report praised the crew for being 'calm and professional throughout the accident sequence of events' and 'actively soliciting feedback and input and crosschecking with one another to ensure everyone was working with the same mental model.' After the crash landing, inspections found that hydraulic fluid leaked from a hose that opens the door for the left landing gear and had fully depleted the supply. Investigators determined the damage to the more than 35-year-old hose was likely caused by fatigue after it was, at some point, overloaded with force. An electrical wire used to operate a backup system was found to be broken, which is why the alternative method of lowering the gear didn't work either. Since the accident, FedEx started inspecting these backup landing gear extension systems after every 275 hours of flight, the NTSB said. Investigators also found a misrouted strap and missing parts on the escape side latch on the left door, which kept it from opening during the emergency. The right door of the plane also did not have all the slide's latch hardware, which caused it to initially jam when the crew was trying to evacuate. The plane was manufactured in 1988, after the Federal Aviation Administration had mandated these latches be changed, and the NTSB could not determine why they were used on this aircraft. A FedEx inspection found 24% of its planes with similar latches were missing parts, the NTSB said. No other aircraft were found to have misrouted straps. The NTSB reviewed Boeing's parts catalog and FedEx's maintenance manuals and found that they had 'inconsistent depictions' of the latches, and none showed all required modifications. 'These inconsistent, conflicting depictions would likely be confusing to maintenance personnel and could lead to the installation of and failure to detect nonconforming latches, which could result in another incident of an evacuation slide not deploying properly when needed,' the report said. As a result of this accident, Boeing issued a notice to other operators of the 757 around the world to inspect their latches and provided details on what they should include. The NTSB issued recommendations to Boeing to update their manuals and parts catalog to 'to ensure they depict the correct configuration' for the latches and called on the FAA to require inspections of the latches 'and modify or replace them, if necessary, so they comply with the correct configuration.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Shocking reason Alaska Airlines 'flight from hell' skidded down runway
A recent report has detailed the shocking reason why a 2023 Alaska Airlines flight skidded across the runway and produced sparks when it landed at a California airport. The National Transportation Safety Board revealed in its final analysis that the terrifying landing was a result of 'incorrect service/maintenance.' The lack of maintenance to an essential part of the aircraft's main landing gear had not taken place for nearly 800 flights -- leading to a crack and eventual failure upon landing. Passengers aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 1288 on a Boeing 737 filmed the terrifying moments the plane landed at John Wayne-Orange County Airport in Santa Ana on August 20, 2023. Passengers on the flight had departed from Seattle, Washington, and landed in California around 11:15 pm during Tropical Storm Hillary. Video footage of the landing revealed sparks flying in the air. The captain said the touchdown had a 'film jolt feeling' and confessed the plane was 'pulling reasonably hard to the left,' according to the NTSB report. 'At Alaska Airlines, safety is our top priority. We appreciate the NTSB's diligence in this investigation, and we are thankful to our crew members who safely operated this flight,' Alaska Airlines said in a statement to on the recent report. The report revealed that the cause of the unusual landing was the failure of an aft trunnion pin, an important part of the aircraft's main landing gear. The NTSB noted that a crack in a critical part of the plane resulted in the failure. The crack was present for over 700 landing cycles before August 20, 2023 The pin connects the part of the plane that absorbs a landing with its wing. During the Alaska Airlines flight, the trunnion pin failed, resulting in the plane skidding down the runway and sparks on the tarmac. The NTSB's investigation found that the pin's fracture was present for over 797 landing cycles before the jarring landing on August 20. The crack likely developed in 2018 from excessive grinding due to heat exposure during a maintenance overhaul, according to the report. 'However, results of this examination and previous NTSB investigations demonstrate that even relatively mild heat exposure from grinding and/or machining during overhaul can lead to cracking, which can lead to fatigue crack growth and failed landing gear components, as occurred in this accident,' the report stated. The NTSB noted that the crack wouldn't have been visible before it fractured during the flight. The report added that cracks can occur due to mild heat exposure from grinding, which can often go undetected. The crack had reached a depth of 0.144 inches, which was large enough to cause a fracture in the trunnion pin, resulting in the collapse of the aircraft's left main landing gear. Despite the rough landing, the pilot managed to land the plane and all 112 passengers safely evacuated with no deaths or reported injuries. The flight was also met with rain, wind, and turbulence from Tropical Storm Hilary, which reached category four hurricane status as it ravaged the west coast of Mexico. Hilary was downgraded to a tropical storm for parts of Southern California. It marked the first tropical storm warning in the region since Hurricane Nora in 1997, according to hurricane data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The crew on Flight 1288 still could see the runway and noted that the landing gear indicator lights were green before the pilot descended. As the plane hit the runway, passengers noticed the sparks, with one telling ABC News she was 'panicking.' 'I stood up and saw that my left side of the plane was tilted up and the right side plane was tilted down,' another passenger told the outlet at the time. The Orange County Fire Department responded to help evacuate passengers from the tarmac during the storm.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Cause of failed Alaska Airlines landing gear that sent passengers screaming revealed
Nearly two years after passengers screamed while sparks flew down a runway during the landing of an Alaska Airlines flight, the cause has been revealed. A final report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released on Tuesday points to "incorrect" maintenance work. The flight, which departed from Seattle, Washington, made a hard touchdown in Santa Ana, Calif., during Tropical Storm Hilary after the left main landing gear collapsed on touchdown. Video recorded by a passenger captured the plane slamming into the ground at high speed. Sparks were seen flying as the plane appeared to drag its left wing along the tarmac. Investigators revealed that the incident was caused by a "fatigue crack" of a metal trunnion pin, which is part of the left landing gear. The fracture formed from excessive grinding during a 2018 maintenance overhaul, which introduced heat damage to the metal. While the crack was initially not visible, it grew over time and ultimately "caused the pin to fracture during landing," the NTSB report said. "Results of this examination and previous NTSB investigations demonstrate that even relatively mild heat exposure from grinding and/or machining during overhaul can lead to cracking, which can lead to fatigue crack growth and failed landing gear components, as occurred in this accident," the report stated. The report added that the pin had endured more than 4,000 landing cycles since undergoing the 2018 maintenance work. The crack itself had likely been present for approximately 800 landing cycles, the NTSB found. Although the aircraft sustained substantial damage from the hard landing, all 112 passengers and crew members were able to deplane safely and without injury. Alaska Airlines previously said, "our focus is taking care of our guests who were on board, including retrieving their checked bags." "We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience during this situation." Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Delta flight could not lower landing gear because of broken support piece, NTSB finds
A Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 landed on its belly after a crack in a part of the supports for the nose landing gear kept it from extending, according to a National Transportation Safety Board final report issued Tuesday. The flight was attempting to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on June 28, 2023, when a warning light came on as the pilots were trying to lower the landing gear. The jet circled the airport as they attempted to manually extend the gear, but without success. After multiple tries, the pilots declared an emergency and landed with the nose gear up, skidding to a stop with the front of the plane scraping the runway. The 99 passengers and five crew members were not injured during the landing and departed the aircraft on emergency slides. The NTSB found a metal fatigue crack along scratches in the 'upper lock link,' one of the forged aluminum supports for the landing gear. 'The appearance of the scratch features was consistent with tool marks such as from filing or grinding operations,' the NTSB report said. 'These scratch features likely acted as stress concentration areas for crack initiation.' A 2001 alert from the plane's manufactures, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, called for these parts to be inspected for tool marks or rough surfaces, and this 'upper lock link' had been marked as inspected in 2009. After an overhaul of the landing gear, the part was put into a different plane in 2014 where it remained until the accident. The NTSB found that the maintenance facility did not comply with the service bulletin, which contributed to the accident. In total, the part had flown 41,257 times before it broke, the report concluded. As a result of the investigation into this accident, all Boeing 717 'lock links' were inspected and no additional cracks were found.
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Delta flight could not lower landing gear because of broken support piece, NTSB finds
A Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 landed on its belly after a crack in a part of the supports for the nose landing gear kept it from extending, according to a National Transportation Safety Board final report issued Tuesday. The flight was attempting to land at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on June 28, 2023, when a warning light came on as the pilots were trying to lower the landing gear. The jet circled the airport as they attempted to manually extend the gear, but without success. After multiple tries, the pilots declared an emergency and landed with the nose gear up, skidding to a stop with the front of the plane scraping the runway. The 99 passengers and five crew members were not injured during the landing and departed the aircraft on emergency slides. The NTSB found a metal fatigue crack along scratches in the 'upper lock link,' one of the forged aluminum supports for the landing gear. 'The appearance of the scratch features was consistent with tool marks such as from filing or grinding operations,' the NTSB report said. 'These scratch features likely acted as stress concentration areas for crack initiation.' A 2001 alert from the plane's manufactures, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, called for these parts to be inspected for tool marks or rough surfaces, and this 'upper lock link' had been marked as inspected in 2009. After an overhaul of the landing gear, the part was put into a different plane in 2014 where it remained until the accident. The NTSB found that the maintenance facility did not comply with the service bulletin, which contributed to the accident. In total, the part had flown 41,257 times before it broke, the report concluded. As a result of the investigation into this accident, all Boeing 717 'lock links' were inspected and no additional cracks were found.
