A FedEx Boeing 767F made an emergency landing early in the hours of August 19th. The aircraft performed a landing without the left main gear extended. The plane did land without the left gear locked and in place, leading it to come to rest with the engine holding the plane up on the left-hand side.
The incident on August 19th
The Aviation Herald reports that a FedEx Boeing 767F was arriving in Los Angeles (LAX) from Newark (EWR). When on final approach, however, the crew received an indication that there was an issue with the left main gear. The left gear was not down and locked.
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The flight was pretty uneventful throughout. The aircraft was scheduled to arrive between 03:00 and 04:00 local time in LAX. After receiving the indication, the crew did not proceed with the landing, held for a while, and worked through all the checklists. After that, the pilots flew over one of the LAX runways for a visual inspection of the gear from the ground; however, that inspection did not confirm if the gear was down.
The crew then performed a second low approach for a visual inspection. This time, operations vehicles were placed along the runway with a report that the gear did not appear in position. After spending some additional time working through checklists and consulting, the crew performed a partial gear down landing.
Video from the incident shows plenty of sparks emitting from the left-hand side engine that made contact with the ground during the landing.
There were only two pilots onboard the aircraft. Both pilots were able to evacuate the plane with no serious injuries reported. The Los Angeles Fire Department was at the scene, ready to assist, along with other emergency teams.
The aircraft
The Boeing 767F is based on the 767-300, which flies passengers. FedEx is a big operator of the 767F with 90 planes in its fleet, according to data from Planespotters.net, with another 43 aircraft on order. The plane involved in this incident is N146FE. This jet is only about three years old.
As for the incident, it is unclear what the issue was that led to the aircraft making this landing without the left gear down and locked. There will be an investigation involving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get to the bottom of the issue. The plane had a routine flight coming into LAX from Newark.
Other incidents of landing without a gear deployed
In commercial flight, gear-up landings are not common. One of the big issues that would lead to such a landing would be some sort of mechanical fault in the aircraft. There are checklists and procedures in place that a flight crew or operations team can work through to try and lower the gear.
Some incidents seen in the past include gear collapses. A famous one was an Icelandair 757 caused by faulty parts. A full investigation will determine what the issue was that led to this landing. While pilots are trained to handle inflight incidents, it still is a hair-raising experience for a pilot. Thankfully, there were no injuries to the crew.
What do you make of this FedEx 767F landing? Let us know in the comments!