NWA Landing Gear Incident @ Guam

[A4sForever]

Two injured after jet's landing gear collapses

The Associated Press

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2005

HAGATNA, Guam (note: former Agana, Guam) The nose landing gear of a passenger jet collapsed on a runway while taxiing Friday, injuring two people and forcing the shutdown of Guam's international airport, officials said.

Northwest Airlines Flight 74 from Narita, Japan, with 318 passengers aboard, was pulling into a gate at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport when the gear collapsed, airport spokeswoman Rolenda Faasuamalie said.

The passengers and crew exited the aircraft by emergency chutes. Only one of the injured was hospitalized, officials said.

Arriving flights were rerouted to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and to Saipan in the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands. Guam's airport will remain closed until the plane is removed from the runway, Faasuamalie said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the accident. Guam is a U.S. territory about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

(note: "Andersen AFB personnel have committed equipment to remove the aircraft" --- a rhetorical question --- where's a NWA mechanic when you need one ... ??? )

 

[A4sForever]

Guam International Airport Reopens After Landing Accident

[font=Verdana,Sans-Serif]Friday August 19, 6:12 PM EDT[/font]

[font=Verdana,Sans-Serif]HAGATNA, Guam (AP)--Guam's international airport reopened following the collapse of a jumbo jet's landing gear, but only one runway was available, forcing the cancelations Saturday of several flights.

One person suffered minor injuries and remained hospitalized Saturday morning after 316 passengers and 16 crew members were evacuated from the Northwest Airlines (NWAC) Boeing (BA) (BA) 747 using emergency chutes.

The plane was pulling up to a gate Friday after a flight from Narita, Japan when its nose landing gear collapsed, said Gerard Bautista, acting air terminal manager at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, which was shut down for several hours.

The airport reopened Friday night with only one of its two runways, and four flights from Japan and one from South Korea were canceled Saturday.

The Northwest aircraft blocked the airport's other runway as an emergency team assessed the damage. Bautista said he expected the plane to be removed Saturday afternoon and said no further cancellations were expected.

Passenger Hector Medina of Guam said the landing at first seemed normal. The plane skidded for about 300 meters, but there was no violent motion and passengers did not yell or panic, he said.

"Actually, it was pretty quiet. I guess people really didn't know what was going on," Medina said. Medina said passengers received an apology, $200 and vouchers for a free flight.

Arriving flights were rerouted Friday to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and to Saipan in the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands.

A call to Northwest's corporate communications department in Minneapolis was not immediately returned.

Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, interviewed by phone, said he was told the damage to the aircraft was minor. "The front landing gear, as it collapsed, the nose just took a dive and it scrapped along. So there was no fire," Camacho said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.

Former NAS Agana ... now "Hagatna ", whatever the hell that is .... looking West ..... the old NAS ramp is on the left (south) side

[/font]

 

[Brett327]

Good old Guam. Last time I was in WestPac, my XO decided that he needed to check out the "ballet" in Guam, so we took a section of Prowlers there from Iwakuni via Iwo Jima for the weekend - all for strippers! I love my job.

Brett

 

[A4sForever]

UPDATE:

The Northwest Airlines 747 aircraft that skidded without a nose landing gear on the primary runway at the island's airport was towed to the southern area of the airport early Saturday evening.

Another NW 747 has picked up the route from Tokyo to Guam and touched down at Andersen at 5:30 p.m.

Pictures:

... ALOHA

 

[A4sForever]

TIMELINE of the incident UPDATE:

Friday, Aug. 18

10:45 a.m. Guam time -- Northwest Flight 74 departs from Narita with 319 passengers on board and 16 crew members. The flight was scheduled to leave at 10:45 a.m. and arrive on Guam at 2:15 p.m.

2:18 p.m. -- Flight 74 called the Antonio B. Won Pat Guam International Airport and received a gate designation. The flight did not report any problems at that time.

2:23 p.m. -- Flight 74 lands safely, but while still moving slowly on the runway, the front landing gear apparently collapses. The plane skids to a stop 130 yards from the main terminal building, with the nose of the aircraft resting on the runway.

2:28 p.m. -- The Federal Aviation Administration NW-Mountain region in Washington state received a call about an accident.

5 p.m. -- A press conference is held and Guam airport Executive Manager Jess Torres confirmed that the front landing gear collapsed.

By 5 p.m., 500 passengers from other flights had flown into Andersen Air Force Base on other commercial flights. The passengers were escorted by the Guam Police Department to the airport, where they were processed.

Shortly after 5 p.m., 71-year-old Naozuru Nakamura was admitted to Guam Memorial Hospital for abrasions on both arms. A man and a woman were admitted to Naval Hospital and treated for minor injuries.

8 p.m. -- The airport reopens a different (shorter) runway, the runway parallel to the one on which the plane is parked.

Saturday, Aug. 20

4:30 a.m. -- Northwest Airlines technicians and investigators arrive from Tokyo and begin working with the downed aircraft still sitting on the runway. Crews work all morning to design a plan to lift the plane, extend the frontal landing gear and tow it off the runway.

2 p.m. -- Straps are hooked to the craft and cranes raise it from the ground, and air compression bags are placed under the body for reasons of safety for the mechanics.

5:30 p.m. -- Northwest Flight 73 from Tokyo touches down at Andersen Air Force Base.

After 6 p.m., the frontal landing gear is secured by mechanics, and the plane is towed to the southern part of the airport.

The runway was expected to be looked over by investigators to give the OK for landings to resume by the end of the night.

 

[webmaster]

4:30 a.m. -- Northwest Airlines technicians and investigators arrive from Tokyo and begin working with the downed aircraft still sitting on the runway. Crews work all morning to design a plan to lift the plane, extend the frontal landing gear and tow it off the runway.

Ummm.... so there are at least some mechanics at NWA not on strike? I guess overseas workers don't count, leads me to wonder if more maint. is being done overseas?

 

[A4sForever]

Ummm.... so there are at least some mechanics at NWA not on strike? I guess overseas workers don't count, leads me to wonder if more maint. is being done overseas?

Ah-so ..... the Pacific/Asian mechanics --- in this case, the Japanese who would come down to Guam to "Save the Whale" --- they are probably NWA employees, but they are not in the US mechanics union -- neither AMFA nor its predecessor, the IAM on the NWA property. There has been a lot of contracting out over the past 10 years or so with foreign mechanics for all US carriers that fly internationally. Some of the heavy periodic maintenance checks have been performed in Mainland (i.e., Communist ) China and Singapore over the past 15 years as well as in some other Pacific stations, i.e., Manila.

NWA broke the NWA Japanese and Korean mechanics union(s) some years ago with layoffs and retirements and the maintenance has never been as good as it was --- but I'm specifically referring to NRT here. NWA used to defer maintenance until they could get the airplane to NRT --- the Japanese mechs were cheaper (even unionized) and were that good. Now those guys are retired or gone and the quality of mechanics throughout Asia has reached the previous high standard. The ChiCom mechs are C-R-A-P but that's what you have to work with ... but all the while the planes get older and parts lockers become more threadbare .... ... is it time for early retirement???

 

[Schnugg]

What would cause a nose gear to collapse? A failed down-locking mechanism and backward movement at/near the gate?

 

[Physicx]

Is 16 crewmembers the norm?

 

[A4sForever]

Is 16 crewmembers the norm?

Yeah, very normal. 3+13 ... sometimes more .... sometimes less .... depends on the load and the configuration. Assuming it was a mechanical --- lots of things can break down there. Ship 6627 and she is down on the runway --- the ramp and gates are in the background. A new picture from the hill to the south of the runway ....

 

[Flash]

Good old Guam. Last time I was in WestPac, my XO decided that he needed to check out the "ballet" in Guam, so we took a section of Prowlers there from Iwakuni via Iwo Jima for the weekend - all for strippers! I love my job.

Brett

Three weeks in Guam, flying with JASDF F-4's who would not fly in bad weather. And by the way, it was monsoon season !!! We had a flight cancelled because the hagar the bird was in had 4 inches of water in it from the downpour outside, and you could hardly see the planes parked 200 feet from the hangar. The best part was the Skipper got soaked....and the strippers were nice too......