gd day, There is an aircraft squacking 7700 near Belfast at the moment, anybody knows whats going on? A320, G-DHJZ on its way to tenerife.

Im sure someone ONBOARD will be on pprune... :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

What I mean is that sometimes local ATC guys or other locals on pprune have more info then me, being in DXB...

Landing gear problem - preparing for emergency landing

No idea what is going on but it's all over Sky News...

Plane Finder | Flight Radar | Live Flight Tracking (http://planefinder.net/flight/TCX25MR)

BBC says Belfast is preparing for emergency landing of a Thomas Cook flight.

Im sure someone ONBOARD will be on PPRuNe..

In this neck of the woods, in a low altitude hold.....someone would be!

Does anyone have a METAR for the airport and an A320 schematic or better still, an FCOM and QRH?

Maybe someone can set up a link to the crew and give some suggestions of how this could be handled?

I mean, God forbid they stuff it up!

Reporting problem with the undercarriage - looks like it's on approach now, dumped fuel over Lough Neagh.

Sky news showing their total lack of knowledge in relation to a/c and aviation - they've just reported the A320 will be 'dumping fuel'. All we need now is that idiot Chris Yates on TV for his opinion.
Hope these guys get the a/c down with no injuries.

dumped fuel over Lough Neagh.

?????:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

Can a 320 dump fuel?

Think they may have been burning some fuel and trying to rectify the snag. A320 can't dump fuel.... :ugh:

No it can't.

Its landed safely.

Its been on Sky and BBC news, reports of landing gear problems.

They've landed safely.

Hope it warranted its own thread!

Sky news reporting that the A/C was 'dumping fuel' too... hahahaha brilliant!!

Belfast International: Plane In Emergency Landing Plan At Airport | UK News | Sky News (http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16164822)

Sky reporting it dumped fuel , but has landed safely, they almost sounded disappointed.:ugh: Still all good for people on board, that's main thing, get down safely:ok:

Now quick, somebody post METARs and TAFs from half the FIR and add in a condolence for good measure, just in case!

Thanks for all the replies people :}

Just in case it helps the investigators, (who get all their data from Pprune), I have posted OODNADATTA's metar.


METAR YOOD 071100Z AUTO 15012KT //// // ////// 26/05 Q1011
RMK RF00.0/000.0

No doubt it will be helpful in some way for this landing gear problem.

They've landed safely.

Hope it warranted its own thread!

Yup it sure does.

It still happened even although its over already with a good outcome.

blueloo thanks for the METAR, :), but you forgot to tell us how many hospitals and schools it manged to avoid. :E

thanks for the METAR, , but you forgot to tell us how many hospitals and schools it manged to avoid.
It was a METAR, not a meteorite. :}

Is this going to be what happens every time a 7700 squawk pops up, now that every anorak worth his adenoids has an SBS?

Clearly a slow news day...

Anyone know if David Learmount has or will make an appearance and/or statement ? - lets hope so, were all counting on him. God speed.

BBC news

BBC News - Belfast plane makes emergency landing (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16928178)

Were any nuns or kittens hurt?

We must be told immediately so that I can board the outrage bus and start a petition for the banning of these dangerous contraptions.

I mean, who DO they think they are?

Yours,

Outraged of Essex.*



*Only outraged as there weren't any explosions or Hollywood fireballs to perv over.

Outraged of EssexEssex? Essex? I hope someone else does your navigating for you as you will definitely miss the bus if that's where you think it departs from. :E

Its in the Spotters forum.

quote: A passenger who was on the plane told Radio Ulster how scared those on board were.

"The crew came round and told us all about bracing ourselves, taking our shoes off, using the emergency exits and leaving or luggage behind," she said.

"We flew round and round and round for more than an hour. A police helicopter came up and inspected the exterior of the plane.

"We were all in tears but we landed safely is all I can say - thankfully."

And avoided the local school and hospital etc etc

Drills obviously carried out by the crews and an uneventful return :ok:

This would have never happened in a Boeing... :}

This would have never happened in a Boeing...

You're right. The gear on a Boeing probably would never have come down and there would have been a full scale evacuation!

Shame that no-one on the ground could see the faces of the pax at the windows. Usually happens.

did they remove the gear pins before flight ??:{

<<Anyone know if David Learmount has or will make an appearance and/or statement>>

Who needs him with all the nonsense on here?

Yes the pins were removed before flight.

The incident occurred due to a microswitch failing which would not allow the gear to retract. The relative low level level holding allowed the fuel to be burnt off much quicker so that a landing at a more sensible weight could be made.

Yes the crew briefed for an emergency as is required.

Job done.

Is this PPRuNe or airliners.net?!

Wow I thought the Military Forum was full of bitter and twisted people.

Its a rumour network, it says so on the door.

Get over yourselves.

Ill get my coat

I saw this plane circling around BFS this morning and it had gone round about 5-6 times wondered what was going on. Think it was going to TFS.

Why would you do an emergency landing if the gear couldn't be retracted after take off? Isn't the gear already where it needs to be for the subsequent landing?

Do TCX have a maintenance base at Belfast? If not would it not have been better to fly to Manchester which is a maintenance base, burning off fuel in the process, and having more chance of the defect repaired quickly, or if not more chance of a spare aircraft being available

doublesix,

But then you're looking at finding the ability to land and find a slot to take-off again from MAN which will also have heavier fees than BFS does. With it being landing gear - if you look at the distance covered at low altitude to burn fuel - you'd need to fly to MAN at low altitude (I highly doubt permission would be cleared for that) and then continue doing some more burning when you get to MAN at low altitude.

I think staying around BFS, no restrictions, fly new plane out with some maintenance guys on and get it sorted at BFS is the best way to go. You can try and keep things according to schedule then.

Wow I thought the Military Forum was full of bitter and twisted people.
So that's where they all are! :}

BTW where's OODnaDATTA?? Could they really have diverted there? :}

Why would you do an emergency landing if the gear couldn't be retracted after take off? Isn't the gear already where it needs to be for the subsequent landing?

I suppose it depends at whatever point the "gear up" process failed, the crew may have been concerned it was showing as down but was not locked, or something mechanical had failed, etc.

7700 probably meant that all the right assets were quickly brought into place should the gear have had any issues during landing.

3 green triangles on the ECAM is all that is required to confirm that the gear is down-locked = no emergency, no 7700, no need to frighten the cr@<hidden> out of 170 passengers.

How does squawking 7700 frighten the crap out of 170 pax?