THE FLIGHT DECK 29 December 2014 A Virgin airlines 747 (Jumbo) VS 43 bound for Las Vegas, landed back at Gatwick (London) with one of its four main undercarriage (gear or wheel assemblies) not lowered to the down position. The plane took off but apparently one of the wheel assemblies created problems and the crew decided to return to Gatwick. In the event, one of the four main assemblies did not lower. The 747 is designed to land on any three of its four main gear assemblies so there was no danger to the plane or its occupants, provided the pilot made a smooth enough touchdown. However in order to land as safely as possible, the crew had to dump many tonnes of aviation fuel in order to reduce the weight of the plane to its lowest possible value to reduce stresses on the remaining undercarriages. This is a routine enough procedure and the fuel vaporises and does not reach the ground. The final landing was perfect and the plane came to a halt with one wing slightly lower than the other on the failed gear side. Some passengers according to reports were quite upset which is understandable despite reassurances from the Captain and cabin crew. Virgin flew them all out the next day on a replacement plane apart from about 13 who chose not to travel for personal reasons. So from a safety standpoint it shows that the 747 flown by a well trained crew is an extremely well designed and safe aircraft where every system including the landing gear can suffer failure without compromising safety - there is always a backup or alternative system. youtu.be/ZqDP-FMgTy8
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 19:08:49 +0000
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