US: Delta Airlines flight makes emergency landing without front gear extended

A Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Charlotte on Wednesday (June 28) after the crew reported malfunctioning gear to air traffic control. In a statement, a Delta Airlines spokesperson said that Flight 1092 landed safely without the use of nose gearat Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Passengers aboard the flight disembarked using the jet slide. The flight landed safely and no injuries were reported.

Photographs from the runway showed wheels on the ground under the wings, but the nose of the aircraft on the runway. The jet slide extended from the door of the aircraft with firefighters helping passengers disembark.

The Boeing 717 aircraft had 96 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants on board.

What happened to the aircraft?

As per the statement, the trouble began when the pilotsreceived a “nose gear unsafe” indication as the aircraft approached the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and so they flew by the air traffic control tower so controllers could visually inspect the plane. Controllers saw the nose landing gear doors were open, but the gear had not descended and the pilots landed the plane without the nose gear.

The crew then led the passengers to the emergency chutes at the two exits after the emergency landing.

An unidentified passenger shared a video of the landing with WCNC-TV which showed passengers braced with their heads down and arms holding on to the seat back in front of them as the aircraft landed.

'We were going to hear a big thud': Passenger

Speaking to the news agency Associated Press, passenger Chris Skotarczak said that if he had not seen the aircraft's shadow without the nose wheel down and been told to brace for landing, he would have thought nothing was wrong.

“The pilot told us, we’re going to land, we’re going to hear a big thud and we’re going to hear a lot of grinding,” Skotarczak said and highlighted the emergency landing was smoother than a regular landing.

All passengers were taken to the terminal. They were asked to leave everything else on the aircraft as they left.

Such landing gear failures 'very rare': Former pilot

Gregory A. Zahornacky, a former airline pilot, told the Associated Press that such landing gear failures are "very rare" and that commercial airlines in the United States have a “fantastic” record of maintaining planes.

Zahornacky said the crew did what they were supposed to do when the nose gear did not work as expected, which is to extend the rest of the plane’s landing gear to absorb energy as the plane touches the runway.

“I think there’s probably very minimal damage to the aircraft, which is secondary … to the safety of the passengers and the crew. So I think that’s the big takeaway here is that everything was handled the correct way and safely done,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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