C-17 Belly Landing

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

Found this on the USAF website:

(U.S. Air Force photo)

Bagram Airmen recover crippled aircraft

Crash recovery and emergency management crews survey a C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 31 as it rests on the active runway of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, after landing Jan. 30 with its landing gear retracted. More than 120 Airmen, Defense Department civilians and contractors successfully removed the crippled aircraft from the runway Feb. 2 and restored full airfield operations shortly thereafter. The "belly up," or no landing gear, recovery effort was the first in the airframe's 16-year Air Force history.

http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=2

www.af.mil

Not much else on it on the USAF web site, just waiting for investigation and see if they release any more info. But all things considered, the crew did an excellent job of putting it down with minor damage.

Looks like it can be repaired and flying in no time.

[expat]

Unusaul to have acomplete system failure to include manaul letdown as well :-?

Matt

[Ivan]

Probably too low already for manual...

Repair is basically patching it up till its safe to fly around and then get it to seattle or so to do the rest

[expat]

Probably too low already for manual...

Repair is basically patching it up till its safe to fly around and then get it to seattle or so to do the rest

You are never too low for a manual let down unless your engines have failed and then no gear becomes a very minor point. As for the repair, it will involve a bit more than patching it up. Cabin pressurisation will have to be 101%. If not it will be limited to low level, that being no higher than 10,000 and that will be one very, very, very long flight back to the USA. Probably find Boeing will find a couple of people willing to go to Bagram and fix it.........at the same time earning more danger money than 10 troops earns in a lifetime.

Matt

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

Well we were showing a guy how to manually lower the gear and lock them down on C-17, and we came to a bad conclusion: It takes way to long to secure the MLG, the stupid troop seats are in the way, and you literally have to rip them from the walls to be able to pin the gear down.

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

They have some what of a video of it on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AupPdRVJioY

[expat]

They have some what of a video of it on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AupPdRVJioY

Seemed to be lots of civilians in that video, sign of the times I suppose.

Matt

PS (Herman Munster does not make a good news caster )

[Hagar]

They have some what of a video of it on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AupPdRVJioY

Since I first saw the photos I've been wondering whether this was a deliberate wheels-up landing. From what they're saying on that video it was caused by a "hard landing". I suppose that means the undercarriage collapsed.

[expat]

They have some what of a video of it on you tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AupPdRVJioY

Since I first saw the photos I've been wondering whether this was a deliberate wheels-up landing. From what they're saying on that video it was caused by a "hard landing". I suppose that means the undercarriage collapsed.

I wondered that, but it looks like a wheels up landing for two reasons. Firstly, an aircraft of that size and weight suffering a heavy landing that collapses the gear, I would have though that after a they jacked it up, it would be taken away on dolly's and not on it's own gear, major structural damage to the gear bays and surrounding structures would have prevented that :-?. Also if you freeze the video at 26 seconds and then go to full screen mode, you can see that the gear doors are not up. On a C17 they remain open with extended gear. If the gear had collapsed, then I would have though that the doors would either be open or laying flat on the ground on the ground owing to the gear door sweep being a lot lower than the gear hang. They would have no chance to close before the aircraft hit the ground. In fact they would probably be the first thing to hit the ground after (if) the gear collapsed.

Matt

[Hagar]

Good point Matt. I was trying to make out what the newsreader was saying rather than watching the vid.

[heynav]

I saw some photos taken of the cockpit and the gear handle is in the up position. Looks like they forgot to put the gear down. When I was flying C-5's at Travis AFB we had a C-5 that did a gear up landing during local flying. The two pilots never flew again. I flew a C-141 back from Spain that had a nose gear break off on landing and it did much damage to the bottom of the plane, crack a main part of the belly. Had to fly back to Charleston at 10,000 unpressurized...

[expat]

I saw some photos taken of the cockpit and the gear handle is in the up position. Looks like they forgot to put the gear down. When I was flying C-5's at Travis AFB we had a C-5 that did a gear up landing during local flying. The two pilots never flew again. I flew a C-141 back from Spain that had a nose gear break off on landing and it did much damage to the bottom of the plane, crack a main part of the belly. Had to fly back to Charleston at 10,000 unpressurized...

A cockpit picture would seem to confirm our collective thoughts, the only remaining question being why. Lets hope it was a system failure :-/ As for an unpressurised 10,000' trip, done one of those too. During my air force time I was in Turkey. The VC10 turned up and was promptly driven into by the baggage wagon. A very long and bumpy flight followed back to the UK.

Matt

[OVERLORD_CHRIS]

I saw some photos taken of the cockpit and the gear handle is in the up position. Looks like they forgot to put the gear down. When I was flying C-5's at Travis AFB we had a C-5 that did a gear up landing during local flying. The two pilots never flew again. I flew a C-141 back from Spain that had a nose gear break off on landing and it did much damage to the bottom of the plane, crack a main part of the belly. Had to fly back to Charleston at 10,000 unpressurized...

A cockpit picture would seem to confirm our collective thoughts, the only remaining question being why. Lets hope it was a system failure :-/ As for an unpressurised 10,000' trip, done one of those too. During my air force time I was in Turkey. The VC10 turned up and was promptly driven into by the baggage wagon. A very long and bumpy flight followed back to the UK.

Matt

Those pictures of the flight deck, i'm not sure if they are floating around the net yet. Even thought I have seen them all, they have not said if:
-there was an IFE and during the Emergency, they over looked it
-Something prevented them from dropping the gear
-There check list was missing a page, and they landed in the dark with what they thought was an up to date book.
-Or just Pilot and Co Pilot error

For there sakes, I hope it was one of the first three, and not the latter. Alot easier to to show that you were following the book page by page, and you did not notice the book missing a page, then to say "I forgot" or "I did not use the check list"

[heynav]

Go to this site to see several photos of the C-17.
http://cencio4.wordpress.com/2009/02/09 ... am-images/

[expat]

Go to this site to see several photos of the C-17.
http://cencio4.wordpress.com/2009/02/09 ... am-images/

Interesting set of pictures. Also some valid points in the blog too. GPWS and config alarm, flaps down and close to the ground. Lots of questions and very thin on the answers. I am thinking that as the Air Force are not pushing that it was an IFE now that the pictures are in the public domain that there are a couple of pilots, to use a line from a well know film, who will be flying plane loads of rubber dog turds out of Hong Kong for a living

Matt