Trainee pilot lands plane without wheel

[jkveenstra]

BBC News - Trainee pilot lands plane without wheel

A trainee pilot has performed an emergency landing in Australia after one of his wheels fells off.

The man had only 120 hours of flying experience when he brought it safely down at Mangalore Airport.

Pia Harold reports.

[stevef]

Trainee pilot with 120 hours experience? A commercial aviation flight school perhaps. Whatever, a good result.
I'll bet next week's beer that the missing wheel (and strut) was due to cracked torque link lugs. Not the first time that's happened to a PA28.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

What an appalling landing for someone with 120 hours! Not even an attempt to hold off to minimise touchdown speed, never mind a bit of refinement like landing on the left main and keeping the right wing high for as long as possible!

He just plonked it down level, the left main, right leg, and nosewheel all touching down together.

I know Cherokee pilots usually land like that, but didn't he know the right main wheel was missing?

[B2N2]

'Even pointing in the right direction at the end'
Back to Journo school I'd reckon.
Think the school charged him for the 4 hours?
Why is he skidding to the left with the right wheel missing?

[Halfbaked_Boy]

I know Cherokee pilots usually land like that, but didn't he know the right main wheel was missing?

When you really think about it, it's not as if you'd see it!

[Torque Tonight]

Why is he skidding to the left with the right wheel missing?

Because the brakes work better when they're attached to a wheel. Coefficient of friction between rubber and concrete versus metal and concrete.

[Contacttower]

The analysis of various videos of emergency situations does seem to be the flavour of the month...

I'm guessing the guy knew he was missing the wheel judging by the fire engines.

I think the fair thing to say is this...

It wasn't a great landing as SSD states. I've got a few hundred hours on the PA28 and one can make the touchdown practically imperceptible if one is careful. He looked like he was doing quite well until the very end - then he seemed to flare a bit high, lost momentum and fell quite quickly... had he just kept a bit of power on and flared a little later he would have done a bit better.

However, if I think back to my 120hrs self, or indeed myself now, my landings weren't always perfect and while I generally land well most of the time I think even experienced pilots will slam it on from time to time, maybe unfortunately this was one such moment for the guy in question? Under the pressure and anticipation of a situation like that I wouldn't say hand on heart that I could have done better, although I'd certainly try. So I guess at the end of the day he got down uninjured...as the old saying goes reusing the plane is not necessarily a qualification for a good landing...all that mattered was that he walked away...

[strake]

He walked away...end of.

Well actually, he seemed to be sort of hauled away..almost like he was being arrested..by a fireman

[maehhh]

I'm actually the last one to criticize a pilot in an emergency situation... especially when everybody is able to walk away from the aircraft after the incident... but in this case i've got to agree that was definitely one ****ty landing for a 120hrs pilot... even with all 3 wheels it would have been poorly executed.

Because the brakes work better when they're attached to a wheel. Coefficient of friction between rubber and concrete versus metal and concrete.

In a situation like this why would you use the brakes at all on a 2000m runway in a PA28...

[Torque Tonight]

Exactly.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

He walked away...end of.

What utter bollox! He'd have had to do something very stupid indeed to end up not walking away.

That would have been merely an appalling landing had it not been an emergency, but not a lot worse than one sees from Cherokee drivers at any GA airfield any weekend you choose (3-point un-held-off high speed plonk-on). He seemed to have a fair old handful of power on as well! Even after he'd stopped!

But I'd have thought the missing wheel might have concentrated the mind enough to at least hold off properly. With the power right back.

Or maybe he was never taught to.....?

Perhaps at those low hours aileron to hold the wing up might have been too big an ask.

[007helicopter]

At about the same hours I had the front nose wheel fail to lock down on a PA28R, it was due to the Hydraulic Ram literally cracking in two, Fire Engines out at Manston etc.

I did not know the reason but it locked into place due to gravity when I slowed right down on base to final turn (thankfully) but lets just say I was well out of my comfort zone, performed a pretty crap landing not to be proud off.

I say well done to a Pilot who would have been under considerable stress!!

[vulcanised]

Two wheel landing

Rather neat one from student (short video)

BBC News - Trainee pilot lands plane without wheel

[doobs115]

As a ppl I imagine panic with such a situation. It seems to me that a lot of power was still on during the roll out / landing. I just wondered if you guys / gals would knock the throttle off and mixture to lean on touchdown?

Regards

[NutLoose]

He's not just lost the wheel but the complete lower wheel strut, on a Piper the torque link bolts hold the leg strut together, there is no retaining ring, if one bolt fails the lower strut blows out of the bottom of the main strut, normally the brake line would keep it dangling below, but looking at that it has separated.

[broadreach]

SOP being led away from the aircraft arm in arm with a fireman/firewoman? Is that in case the pilot just might decide to run back to the aircraft and take off again?/ Stub his toe on a runway light and be in a position to sue the airport operator? / any other reason.....

[funfly]

I think that if you were a low hours pilot who had just landed sans a wheel then maybe you would appreciate a steady arm

[broadreach]

Yes Funfly I probably would appreciate a supporting arm in similar circumstances. Never been there and don't care to be. The 100+hr student pilot looks calm after his over four hour ordeal. I just can't escape an impression that the fireman/woman has commandeered him and that that is part of the shoreside sorry groundside SOPs. Have no problem with that, just seems funny sometimes how SOPs smother clearheaded initiative when it's needed.

If the above comment tosses a few firecrackers into the firepit so be it. Gives us - well maybe some of us - narcissistic alphas something to $&^DISCUSS$%#@& in a gentlemanly manner of course.

[fujii]

The posts on the Australian thread are all congratulatory. Just as we'll we have so many northern hemisphere experts able to do a full accident investigation based on TV footage and set us right. As for the fire service conduct, they have their procedures to comply with. Don't knock them, it may be you one day.

[VH-Cheer Up]

The armchair critics have evidently never flown on Australia in summer. It was around 40 degrees and quite a gusty day, so the thermal updrafts off the different surfaces would have meant a roller-coaster ride on final. Also, the pilot had been airborne for over four hours and might well have been dehydrated and a tad disorientated after the scratchy ground roll. Hence the emergency personnel leading him away.

To put the conditions in Australia in perspective, during a 90-day check flight in an identical aircraft one hot morning the instructor looked at me as we were climbing at 500 feet per minute on final in approach config, nose down and idle RPM and said - "if we ever get back to earth, what say we call it a day and try again tomorrow?"