-There wasn't any fire on the nose gear, so there problably isn't any reason to apply any suppressant anywhere. (They essentialy made a normal landing)
Okay, having watched the video numerous times now, and watching it live and seeing it unfold over the hours it took from when it was started to be Broadcasted to when the thing landed, I've noticed a few key points.
-One, for a Gear malfunction, this wasn't as bad as it could've been. Let's say the gear were at a 45 degree angle as opposed to 90, that would have been disastrous in trying to keep the plane straight
-Two, after watching the flames on the wheels and what affected them, I've found that when the plane actually touched the nose down, the nose was a few yards to the left of centerline. When the plane drifted off to the right, when the front gear hit paint, that's when the flames erupted. I figured that the flames were just caused because the tires had worn completely down and the plane was on aluminum. BUT, having watched it again, I noticed that everytime the tires went over the centerline, the flames grew, then went down, then grew, then went down, as the plane hit each line. Is this known that the paint will do that? Just a thought.
-And third, having watching the video countless times already, I've noticed one thing else, the pilot had control of the rudder on the ground. Once the plane touched down, it was left of the centerline, then it drifted right, past the center, or nearly there, and then ended up on the other side, it certainly looked as if he had control.
After all, this was a nerve-racking event, but it was somewhat over-hyped, of course, having the main news stations notifyed about the plane live was a deterrent, but it's still getting a lot of coverage. The pilot made a great landing, and couldn't have set the plane down softer. No one was killed and that's what's important ;).
-HF
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:20 pm
