AvHerald has updated the report with an account from a passenger:
Accident: Iceland B752 at Keflavik on Feb 7th 2020, main gear collapse on landing
On Feb 11th 2020 The Aviation Herald received permission to publish the narrative of a passenger describing the experience on board of this flight. While granting the permission the passenger re-iterated that the landing was really smooth and that the passenger noticed the missing pin from the landing gear, too. The narrative in its entirety:
For those curious about my trip, the most exciting part was on my way home landing in Reykjavik, Iceland on flight FI529. The flight tracker on the in-flight information system said the winds were 30-50 MPH at the airport. This is fairly typical for Reykjavik. The approach was smooth and not turbulent. Normal landing speed for a Boeing 757 is 155 MPH. According to another passenger we touched down at 120 MPH which means we had a strong headwind. Everything was smooth including the landing. We touched down and then rebounded on the shocks in the landing gear. It did not feel like we left the ground again. There were the normal sounds of landing. We settled back down and the nose wheel touched, there was a loud bang and thump from the right side of the plane. It felt like we were flying again as the right wing dipped and then came back to level. The bottom of the dip was soft like a normal correction to turbulence.
As the plane slowed the right wing dropped again and stayed down. I was on the left side one row behind the wing's emergency exits. Window seat. I looked across the aisle and out the window on the right. There were sparks coming back from below the right engine. We came to a straight and smooth stop.
All the passengers were calm and quiet the entire time. The flight attendant came on the PA and told everyone to stay in their seats and listen for instructions. Anticipating having to use the emergency slides I took everything important out of my computer bag including passport, car keys, wallet, cell phone charger, Twix bar, etc. and put them in my coat pockets. I put my coat on.
The pilot came on and in a slightly shaky voice told us that as we may have guessed there was a problem with the landing gear and that we were safe to stay right where we were. Emergency personnel were on their way and we would be told what to do. He kept the left engine running a little while. They he started the auxiliary power unit and shut off the main engines. We had lights and heat the whole time. Emergency vehicles began to show up. Quiet talking and a little laughter was heard in the cabin. The pilot announced that they were going to evacuated us by mobile stairs and buses. I was disappointed I couldn't go down the slide.
We had been sitting for almost an hour, although I was not watching the clock, before the first passengers came off. They said they were stabilizing the plane. I could feel the wind shaking the plane. I saw a tug come out but I don't know where they put it. They started the evacuation by quickly unloading the rearmost few rows. They did this because the plane was unbalanced. The plane was resting on the right engine which is ahead of the point where the gear is. It was also tipped back a little. This moved the balance point forward and made the nose wheel light. I think they were afraid a strong gust could move the nose wheel sideways and cause problems getting onto the stairs.
As passengers came forward they had their luggage. They continued unloading from back to front. I put down the phone and prepared to leave. We went down the stairs and onto waiting buses. Once on the bus I took some more pics while waiting. It was only when on the bus and seeing the plane resting on the engine that I had a slight adrenaline rush.
When we got to the terminal there were a lot of staff waiting to help if needed. We were given bottles of water. They had emptied the entire wing of the terminal. As we got to the main terminal there was a person asking where I wanted to go. I said "Toronto." The couple behind me said "hotel." According to reports about a third of the passengers continued on to other destinations.
I grabbed some food and waited a long time in line but eventually made it to Toronto. Another person I knew was in line across from me. I said 'that could have gone better." She replied "it could have gone worse." Good point. A few of us were standing around discussing the event and more than a few people were eagerly listening. No announcement was made in the terminal except that all flights were delayed. No one knew there had been an accident. Not the kind of thing to tell people about to get on planes. While waiting in line to board my second flight two women behind me were complaining about the long wait. I told them that the airport could not use one of its two runways due to landing gear collapsing on a plane which had the runway blocked. I said I knew this because I had been on it. Their eyes went wide in a cartoon-like manner. No more complaining.
I went to go to my seat on the plane to Toronto but a flight attendant intercepted me and asked if I would like to move to a better seat up front. Was I on..."The flight from Berlin?" I interjected "Yes." I didn't make it to business class but I had a much nicer seat with my half of the row to myself. There was another girl from the same flight who was all the way on the right. The flight attendants checked on us more than usual.
Made it safely to Toronto while binge-watching "The Expanse." Good thing I had not downloaded the "Airport" movies from the 70's.
My opinion is that the landing was as smooth as any and that there was little cross wind. The landing in Toronto on an identical Boeing 757-200 was the same except for the gear collapse. I believed there was a mechanical failure due to maintenance but not due to the landing itself. The gear did not collapse until the plane settled down.
I found the below report (Editorial note: the passenger references this our AVH coverage about this event) which matches my recollection of the event. They had replaced the main gear on this very plane less than a month ago. Someone screwed up and didn't tighten a bolt. This pic (referencing our AVH picture showing the missing bolt) shows the brace which should have been attached to the gear.
In the end, no-one was hurt. The pilot did an excellent job of keeping the plane level and straight. It could have been much worse. I think the headwind kept the landing speed low which helped. When I look at the pic of the nose wheel I realize the pilot probably did not have great steering control due to the weight shift. I am even more impressed that he kept it straight down the middle of the runway.
Someone in the line listening to us relate the experience jokingly said he didn't want to fly with any of us. I disagreed and said that we had all used up a lifetime of bad luck and that there was no way it could happen to someone twice. I had no reservations about getting on the second plane.
Sometimes, people who travel frequently like to exchange travel stories and try to top each other with misadventures. I plan to keep this story in my back pocket for just such an occasion. If only I could have gone down the slide...