Accident: Capital Beijing A320 at Macau on Aug 28th 2018, dropped nose wheels on hard touchdown
By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Aug 28th 2018 14:31Z, last updated Wednesday, Aug 29th 2018 16:00ZA Capital Airlines Beijing Airbus A320-200, registration B-6952 performing flight JD-5759 from Beijing to Macau (Macau) with 157 passengers and 9 crew, was on final approach to Macau's runway 34 into the flare already when the aircraft encountered wind shear and touched down hard. The crew initiated a go around, received indications of left engine (CFM56) failure and suspecting gear damage declared Mayday. The aircraft diverted to Shenzhen (China) and landed on runway 34 about 40 minutes after the rejected landing. The aircraft became disabled on the runway with both nose wheels missing from the nose gear strut.
Runway 34 was closed for about 3 hours until the aircraft was moved off the runway. Runway 15/33 remained operational.
The missing wheels were recovered from Macau's runway.
China's CAAC reported the aircraft attempted landing at Macau at 11:16L (03:16Z) but was unsuccessful, the crew went around. The crew declared Mayday and requested emergency services on standby in Shenzhen reporting possible landing gear failure. The aircraft landed on Shenzhen's runway 34 at 11:58L (03:58Z), it was subsequently found both nose wheels were missing. The aircraft was evacuated. 5 Passengers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Shenzhen's runway 34 was temporarily closed. The CAA Shenzhen have opened an investigation into the occurrence.
The airline reported the aircraft is suspected to have encountered windshear while landing at Macau, the crew immediately initiated a go around, suspected damage to the landing gear and declared emergency. The aircraft diverted to Shenzhen where the 157 passengers and 9 crew were evacuated.
On Aug 29th 2018 The Aviation Herald received information from a multitude of sources stating that the aircraft touched down on Macau's runway 34 at 7.7 degrees nose up, 123 KIAS and 2.4G, bounced, touched down a second time at 15.1 degrees nose up between 133 and 144 KIAS and 3.4G. The aircraft bounced again, touched down a third time at 7.7 degrees nose down (nose gear first), both wheels and part of the nose gear structure separated, debris was ingested by the left hand engine, debris destroyed the VHF1 antenna (causing temporary loss of communication), the damage to the nose gear also prompted the nose gear to permanently indicate being on the ground preventing gear retraction. About 5 seconds after the third bounce the go around was initiated.