Comments on: Oh, dear.

Oh, dear.

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:33:17 -0800

, with 145 people on board, is currently circling LAX, burning fuel while it prepares for an emergency landing with its nose gear twisted 90 degrees.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:34:54 -0800

Live video at MSNBC.

By: ramix

ramix — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:36:12 -0800

i'm glued...

By: icontemplate

icontemplate — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:37:48 -0800

Where's a Jeep when you need it?

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:38:00 -0800

I like how CNN can take about the same amount of information contained in the FPP above and stretch it into 30 minutes of EXCITING NEWS ACTION SITUATION ROOM TELEVISION.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:38:59 -0800

chasing, I pride myself on being concise.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:39:01 -0800

Holy crap. I can see the LAX landing pattern out my office window...

By: fenriq

fenriq — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:39:42 -0800

This is bad. I hope it ends better than its begun.

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:39:59 -0800

Wow. I live less than four miles outside of Burbank airport, and our relatives fly jet blue all the time (since they started flying out of burbank, that is, which was recently.) Here's to a safe landing.

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:40:26 -0800

Oh, and let's hope your name isn't prophetic, Crash.

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:40:38 -0800

"If you were flying this plane, Jim, what would you be telling your crew, your passengers?" "I think they're being prepared for the worst possible outcome..."

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:42:39 -0800

mr_crash_davis: Concise is good, but how are you going to keep viewers from switching to Fark.com's reports if you don't glue them to MetaFilter with fancy graphics and maybe an exclusive interview with someone who has either been on a plane or lives near Los Angeles?

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:44:26 -0800

They should be able to land with a pretty high degree of safety... they'll try to keep the nose up in the air for as long as possible after the main gear touches. There are still planes coming into the pattern on both runways at LAX, with a few going out as well.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:45:44 -0800

Woops should have added that clearly they haven't cleared out the pattern quite yet. Hearing that the plane will land by 6PM.

By: joelf

joelf — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:46:55 -0800

good luck guys

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:47:40 -0800

I'm hearing 3 minutes or less: 8:50PM EST / 5:50PMPST. On CNN.

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:47:41 -0800

Some commentary that perhaps touching the landing gear to the ground for a moment will straighten it out. Wishful thinking? No idea.

By: joelf

joelf — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:49:30 -0800

They shut the TV's off on landing.

By: joelf

joelf — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:50:25 -0800

apparently the passengers may be watching the same live station.

By: GoodJob!

GoodJob! — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:51:06 -0800

too bad most people don't respect flight attendants until an emergency arises... right now they are prepping the cabin and going thru final emerg. procedures with pax, such as brace positions and commands... my thoughts are with them right now..

By: maryh

maryh — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:51:08 -0800

*fingers crossed*

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:51:45 -0800

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:52:06 -0800

Still some other planes landing and taking off. Apparently they're landing on 25 L, the southern main runway, which is farthest from where I'm at.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:52:27 -0800

Let's hope they end up as well off as the Toronto Air France people.

By: joelf

joelf — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:54:08 -0800

they flew air france, how well off are they?

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:56:56 -0800

Planes still in the pattern, they haven't cleared the airport yet. Shouldn't be long tho. Says they're circling out over the ocean, so they'll have to fly east about 10 miles to turn back west for the final approach.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:58:19 -0800

Looks like two 747s on approach now... they're getting the heavies down in advance I guess.

By: item

item — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:58:19 -0800

lolers joelf! yeah, and the french? they smell bad!!!

By: item

item — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:58:51 -0800

in other words, this is neither the time nor the place for it.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 17:59:30 -0800

The only feed I could get to work is the ABC one.

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:00:14 -0800

Is it just me, or does that ABC close-up of the landing gear look like an Achewood character? Something about the twisty wheels.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:01:28 -0800

Pattern now looks empty, I don't see any planes.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:03:30 -0800

Yeah I'll have to call that as definite, the pattern is now empty, no planes coming in or going out.

By: kalimac

kalimac — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:03:36 -0800

thanks mathowie - I don't have tv. I'll rivet nervously to this instead....

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:04:39 -0800

Oops sorry, two just took off, both runways. Nothing on approach that I can see.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:05:57 -0800

Hmf, okay, there's another one coming in. I guess they haven't closed the airport yet.

By: mrbill

mrbill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:06:22 -0800

Pattern now looks empty, I don't see any planes. My first thought at reading this was "Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full."

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:07:57 -0800

Has anyone heard how the front wheels could get tweaked around so severely like that? They seemed to be turned right at take-off, but I can't imagine a plane could take off like that... If any of you are currently reading MetaFilter from inside the nosecone of the JetBlue flight, could you please let me know? Thanks.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:09:17 -0800

MSNBC is reporting that the same exact thing -- front landing gear twisted 90 degrees -- happed many years ago on the same model of plane. Not remembering the details now...

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:09:36 -0800

"Has anyone heard how the front wheels could get tweaked around so severely like that?" I haven't, chasing, and it really is bothering me. I can't come up with any scenario that makes sense.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:10:42 -0800

My editor just told me he was supposed to be on this flight, but his trip got cancelled. I told him to pick up a lottery ticket.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:11:13 -0800

MSN Video working, running NBC News.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:11:47 -0800

If any of you are currently reading MetaFilter from inside the nosecone of the JetBlue flight, could you please let me know? If I am ever stuck on a plane about to make an emergency landing that could possibly turn out very badly... I would absolutely want to go down reading Metafilter. Or, better yet, posting a question about my situation on AskMetafilter.

By: kalimac

kalimac — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:11:51 -0800

ABC's expert is saying that there was probably some kind of equipment failure, and the wheels got twisted after taking off and couldn't be straightened. It's also apparently more common in fighter aircraft - it's happened a few times, with no fatality.

By: reality

reality — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:12:03 -0800

I blame Bush for this.

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:12:17 -0800

I wonder if the people getting married in a panic on board will break it off once they land safely.

By: sixdifferentways

sixdifferentways — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:12:21 -0800

The expert on ABC just remarked this kind of landing gear twist is not unheard of. He said it was probably a material failure and he had seen it before on fighter jets.

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:12:44 -0800

Landing estimated in six minutes..

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:13:04 -0800

Here's an almost identical incident from the wonderful National Transportation Safety Board database. Seems the maintenance crew improperly installed the shock absorber on the nose wheel of an A319, allowing it to turn and lock 90 degrees after takeoff. The captain landed successfully on the nose wheel, which was "ground down to the axle'. What do you think? Sounds plausible to me...

By: icosahedral

icosahedral — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:13:19 -0800

I can't even fathom what it would be like - circling for a few hours, burning off fuel, knowing you're going to crash land, and potentially even watching your own flight circling live on MSNBC. My god, those poor folks. I hope they come through this safely.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:13:25 -0800

Says the plane has started on the downwind run, about 10 minutes to landing.

By: dsword

dsword — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:13:51 -0800

This is just a guess, but in a plane, your rudder pedals control the front wheel as well as the rudder. Often large planes will make sharp turns immediately after take-off to avoid populated areas, before the landing gear has been retracted. When you turn, you apply rudder to keep the drag caused by the excess lift of the higher wing from making the airplane yaw. If, during all this, some switch or something broke in landing gear, well...

By: thedoctorpants

thedoctorpants — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:15:46 -0800

This is insane.. CNN international is covering it..

By: thedoctorpants

thedoctorpants — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:16:02 -0800

on the tube that is..

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:16:19 -0800

Here's the A320 incident (same model as one today) in 1999 being mentioned in MSNBC.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:16:27 -0800

Turning on final now.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:17:07 -0800

the commentary is inane I must say (on the feed, not here)

By: Dormant Gorilla

Dormant Gorilla — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:17:19 -0800

I just wonder what those poor people are thinking. Do you think the pilots might've made up some excuse for the situation, so as to avoid panic- or did they tell them all exactly what was happening? I can't imagine sitting there for two hours just waiting for it to go either way.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:17:21 -0800

From the full narrative of that 2002 incident I mentioned above: "The manufacturer of the NLG (nose landing gear) shock absorber is Messier-Dowty.... ...The shock absorber assembly consists of two sections: a stationary inner cylinder (piston), which is mounted inside the shock strut assembly, and a sliding tube, which is the lower portion and contains the wheel axle. The upper portion of the inner cylinder contains anti-rotation lugs. During installation of the shock absorber, the anti-rotation lugs are aligned in slots on a backplate, which is mounted inside the top of the shock strut. A nut is then installed to secure the inner cylinder of the shock absorber/gear assembly to the backplate. The bottom of the inner cylinder contains the lower cam. The upper part of the sliding tube contains the upper cam. This cam is held in place by eight dowel pins retained by a bushing and a retaining ring. During gear extension and retraction, the sliding tube extends down and the two cams engage, centering the nose wheel. When the strut is compressed on the ground, the cams are separated and the nose wheel is free to move for on ground steering. Teardown Inspection When the NLG was removed from the airplane, it was determined that the anti-rotation lugs at the top of the shock absorber were not properly seated in the backplate, which indexed and bolted to the inside of the shock strut assembly." Ten bucks says it's the exact same thing this time.

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:25 -0800

Everyone move to the back of the bus.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:18:50 -0800

Here's relevant narrative from the A320 record: Examination of the airplane revealed the external 'O' rings in the steering control valve had extruded and by-passed pressurized hydraulic fluid to rotate the nose wheels. This event had occurred before, and the manufacturer had issued a service bulletin. The operator had not complied with the service bulletin, nor were they required to comply with it.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:19:14 -0800

Final Approach.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:19:15 -0800

1 mile to go

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:03 -0800

OMG what an awesome landing! WTG!

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:05 -0800

HFS

By: mds35

mds35 — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:10 -0800

whew

By: icosahedral

icosahedral — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:13 -0800

YES!

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:20 -0800

Well that was a bit of an anti-climax.

By: numlok

numlok — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:23 -0800

WOOOOOOOT!

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:25 -0800

The pilot is awesome.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:27 -0800

Is it bad form to wager on an impending airline crash? If not, Vulcan, let's talk. But seriously, I hope the news networks have some interns that they can sic onto actual research.

By: Hobbacocka

Hobbacocka — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:29 -0800

holy christ

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:37 -0800

Check it, bitch!

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:45 -0800

Thank God!

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:45 -0800

*applause*

By: bshort

bshort — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:47 -0800

It's down.

By: maryh

maryh — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:49 -0800

WHEW!!!!

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:53 -0800

They did it!

By: edgeways

edgeways — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:20:58 -0800

yay

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:00 -0800

Hooray! One for that pilot's resume reel, undoubtedly.

By: mystyk

mystyk — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:01 -0800

Landed safely. Whew!

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:04 -0800

using the tires as a brake- genius! That is flying. I mean landing. oh, god.

By: etc.

etc. — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:08 -0800

Yay.

By: phyrewerx

phyrewerx — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:09 -0800

Wow, I'm at work right now, and this entire thing unfolded infront of the Blue. Thanks all for keeping it up to date! And great news!

By: item

item — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:13 -0800

Made it!

By: reality

reality — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:15 -0800

thank goodness

By: twiggy

twiggy — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:15 -0800

I don't think it was an anti climax at all.. I think it was great... A skilled pilot just saved the lives or at least injuries of 145 people... I couldn't have asked for a better ending to this.. and if you think it was an anti climax, then maybe you've got kind of a warped mind... because how could it be any more climactic? did you WANT a flaming crash?

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:16 -0800

Touchdown, and the gear held up! Hooray!

By: bshort

bshort — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:24 -0800

Wow, that went really well.

By: sol

sol — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:26 -0800

The plane may be fine, but I just wore out the refresh button on my browser.

By: gwint

gwint — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:28 -0800

Give that pilot a medal! Damn!

By: maxsparber

maxsparber — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:29 -0800

Down. Safe. So relieved.

By: Dormant Gorilla

Dormant Gorilla — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:43 -0800

Goddamn, it's great to see competence. Amazing pilots.

By: chococat

chococat — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:44 -0800

give that guy a raise. and please let me have him on my next flight.

By: Dipsomaniac

Dipsomaniac — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:47 -0800

Well, that was the most anti-climactic emergency landing I ever heard of. Good on the pilot, hope he gets a bonus.

By: I Love Tacos

I Love Tacos — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:47 -0800

That pilot deserves a beer.

By: evilelvis

evilelvis — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:21:55 -0800

That pilot is awesome. That looked like a softer landing than my car gives me on the road.

By: edverb

edverb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:02 -0800

[applause]

By: mathowie

mathowie — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:07 -0800

Incredible!

By: bshort

bshort — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:10 -0800

They should give that flight crew big fat raises.

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:38 -0800

Sorry, I was taking a whizz, can you do it again? kthx.

By: vernondalhart

vernondalhart — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:46 -0800

That was a hell of a landing. Kudos.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:47 -0800

I was going to buy a ticket to JFK tonight for a wedding next month. Looks like I still will.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:22:58 -0800

In Vulcan's article: Documents from Airbus indicated there have been three (four now, I guess) similar incidents in which A320 airplanes landed with the nose wheels rotated about 90 degrees. Examination of the steering control modules on two of the airplanes revealed extrusion of the selector valve's external seals similar to that found on N628AW. Airbus had attributed the extrusion failures to the lack of a backup seal or the effects of aging on the seals. As a result of these incidents, Airbus issued Service Bulletin (SB) A320-32-1197 on October 8, 1998, to recommend replacement of the external seals on the steering control module's selector valve on A320 and A321 airplanes within 18 months of the SB's issuance.

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:23:13 -0800

Snoop dogg emerges from the smokey cabin. . .

By: bobo123

bobo123 — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:23:24 -0800

Looked smooth, but it must have sounded horrendous.

By: Windopaene

Windopaene — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:23:48 -0800

That was scary. Nice job Pilot Dude!

By: Hobbacocka

Hobbacocka — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:23:57 -0800

there's going to be a lot of seats to clean...

By: kalimac

kalimac — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:24:05 -0800

YAY! Wow, the tires burning away were bright. But that was brilliant - granted I wasn't in the plane, but I'd swear I've had bumpier landings where everything worked.... Absolutely wonderful.

By: vernondalhart

vernondalhart — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:24:22 -0800

And you know what, since everyone made it out ok, what a cool story for those who were on the plane.

By: fredosan

fredosan — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:06 -0800

That was a hell of a good landing... ususally, when I fly, I grip the armrests to the point my knuckles turn white. (I don't like flying.) I just did the same thing in my desk chair watching this. Simply amazing.

By: twiggy

twiggy — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:12 -0800

I'd like to also note the fact that there's a crapload of firefighters there ready to respond in case the landing didn't go as well as it did... I think that's great... This is, ironically enough, the happiest thing I've seen on the news in for-freaking-ever... Three cheers for this badass flight crew... I hope none of the passengers are all bitchy about this and complaining -- their lives were saved, if inconvenienced a bit...

By: rxrfrx

rxrfrx — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:12 -0800

MSNBC just confirmed that the TV sets were turned off during the whole thing.

By: donpedro

donpedro — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:25 -0800

That pilot deserves a beer. For real. Holy shit.

By: edgeways

edgeways — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:39 -0800

So, do you think JetBlue will get praise for the landing or demerits for the whacked landing gear?

By: Corky

Corky — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:42 -0800

Whew... I think I've had bumpier landings with ALL the gears in working order. That was impressive.

By: edverb

edverb — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:25:54 -0800

Make that pilot the head of FEMA immediately!

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:26:26 -0800

According to the FAA's Action Directive 99-23-09 the modification of the nose wheel steering control valve that caused 2 of the three above accidents should have been made by all airlines before December 17, 2000. So it might be a new problem, or it might be shoddy maintenance. Now that the plane is safely on the ground... BRING ON THE LAWYERS, WOOO WO WO WOOOOOOO

By: The Jesse Helms

The Jesse Helms — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:26:42 -0800

If someone famous was on board, I want to hear everything they have to say before anyone else.

By: gazole

gazole — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:26:43 -0800

That was and is, at this moment, the best ad JetBlue could ever get. No doubt kudos go to the pilot but also the people back at their Operations Control Center.

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:27:10 -0800

edgeways: JetBlue will get mad demerits for the landing gear.

By: twiggy

twiggy — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:27:46 -0800

That was and is, at this moment, the best ad JetBlue could ever get. No doubt kudos go to the pilot but also the people back at their Operations Control Center. I know you're not saying/implying it... but how long 'til some tinfoil hat wearer claims this was a publicity stunt? Sadly, I bet not too long... hah.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:27:56 -0800

"That pilot deserves a beer." I'm buying, if I ever meet him.

By: Hobbacocka

Hobbacocka — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:29:23 -0800

Damn. Just noticed my rice was burning the whole time. Glad that and the front wheel were the extent of the damage. (But what about my stirfry? If the pilot were really hot stuff he could have figured out how to save that, too!)

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:30:48 -0800

So reading the accident bulletins, it seems that if the hydraulic seals on your Airbus nose wheels go, the fluid leaks and rotates your wheels 90 degrees. Once you hit the runway, they straighten out. If your mechanics fuck up the anti-rotation lugs on your nose gear, your gear is locked 90 degrees when you hit the runway and your nose gear grinds down to the axles. Since people are reporting fire on the front tires, it's probably something to do with the anti rotation lugs. Maintenance mistake. The TV audience will like JetBlue but the FAA/NTSB will be making some phone calls.

By: swift

swift — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:31:15 -0800

walking away == good landing

By: lisa g

lisa g — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:31:52 -0800

I just can't believe how straight that landing was -- not even a wobble off that white center line. Wow.

By: esoterica

esoterica — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:31:58 -0800

Airbus issued Service Bulletin (SB) A320-32-1197 on October 8, 1998, to recommend replacement of the external seals on the steering control module's selector valve on A320 and A321 airplanes within 18 months of the SB's issuance. According to ABC News just now, this plane was manufactured in 2002, so evidently this service bulletin shouldn't have been applicable anyway.

By: twiggy

twiggy — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:32:24 -0800

Oh yeah.. nobody has mentioned Launchpad McQuack... hmm.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:35:10 -0800

" I just can't believe how straight that landing was -- not even a wobble off that white center line. Wow." Plane that size has a lot of inertia, and is built with great inherent stability. Takes quite a bit of force to wiggle one off the straight; plus, the pilot could compensate for any induced yaw by varying the left and right main gear brakes. Everything worked the way it was supposed to. Most excellent!

By: sdrawkcab

sdrawkcab — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:36:24 -0800

Impressive, perfect success. Plus a small fire! Happy it all worked out.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:37:38 -0800

the national ABC feed just barely captued the cockpit group hug after the plane stopped moving.

By: jonah

jonah — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:38:03 -0800

Just awesome (not the situation, but the ending). I drove under the runways a little after 5:00 today and there were swarms of newsvans and armadas of emergency vehicles heading towards the airport.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:38:15 -0800

Actually, watching it again, there WAS a bit of wobble there, looked like the pilot did have to fight some yaw. Remember that plane is pretty large, so it was actually pulling 5 or 10 feet to the right, but it didn't look like so much because of the scale of the image. So, really good job by the pilot.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:39:00 -0800

Hooray!

By: anthill

anthill — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:43:18 -0800

Well, those passengers have a chance to have their mid-life crises all at once now and hopefully they walk away from this with a bit more perspective. Kind of like the story of the Canadian tourists who were in New Orleans for the hurricane, managed to loot and survive, then 5 days later got a ride to Texas. On their flight home, the landing gear of their plane blew out on the runway and they had to evacuate by chutes. The flight attendants couldn't understand why they were laughing hysterically.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:44:06 -0800

Damn fine work.

By: rolypolyman

rolypolyman — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:45:14 -0800

Damn, Google news sucks... I saw the story and clicked "all 309 related »" and they're all stories about the plane still circling. MetaFilter is much more timely!

By: any major dude

any major dude — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:48:32 -0800

That was probably the worst landing in the history of LAX airport, but some of us here, particularly me would like to buy the pilot a drink and shake his hand.

By: hank

hank — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:54:20 -0800

This live feed from a helicopter had an incredibly good steady-camera video while they were in the air http://wnbc.feedroom.com/iframeset.jsp?ord=779676 At the end, it was dark-on-dark, all but lost them in the smog during the actual landing, but I could see the aircraft lights and the bright spot I knew had to be fire or friction, and the slowdown and stop among the emergency flashers. A bit later and closer now it appears I can see how much of the runway the pilot used up -- about all of it. The multiple white bars marking the end are not even two plane lengths past the nose of the plane.

By: cali

cali — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:57:49 -0800

I love happy endings.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:58:49 -0800

I just came home after watching it on CNN at the gym. The commentary didn't seem inane, but then again, I was reading the closed-captions while listening to my iPod. I got a nice rush of adrenaline during the final approach and successful landing -- softer, I must say, than some I've had with fully-functioning landing gear -- and it probably made my workout much more calorie-burning than usual. Now back to our regularly scheduled hurricane....

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:59:45 -0800

Yeah he used about 9000 feet. Which is understandable, as it looks like he put the main gear down, then slowed down as much as possible with the nose in the air, so to put the nose gear down at the slowest speed possible to minimize the possibility of the gear snapping off. Then once the main gear was down, it looks like he went very easy on the brakes and let the plane glide to a halt.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:04:26 -0800

Damn awesome pilot! Period!

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:04:42 -0800

They're (they being the newscasters and the local "expert") saying on the local news I'm watching that the landing gear on the plane will be fixed, and that it'll probably be back in the air "in a few days".... but will anyone want to fly in it?

By: calwatch

calwatch — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:05:52 -0800

Actually, KNBC locally had an NBC employee (Mike Caseli) who was on the plane talking to reporters. They were watching MSNBC (of course) up until about an hour before the plane made its descent.

By: gramschmidt

gramschmidt — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:06:31 -0800

Damn. Most capital.

By: donpedro

donpedro — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:17:38 -0800

any major dude: But ... he's got a drinking problem.

By: terrapin

terrapin — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:17:54 -0800

. on preview: nevermind. yay! go pilot!

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:21:26 -0800

Stewardess... please bring me my brown pants.

By: SirOmega

SirOmega — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:26:40 -0800

If you watch carefully, the pilot didn't use reverse thrust or spolers because it would cause more downward pressure on the nose gear.

By: squalor

squalor — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:33:55 -0800

The pictures show the passengers getting off using a regular set of plane steps! No inflato-slides? What a rip-off!

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:47:39 -0800

I imagine those slides cost thousands of dollars to deploy. I wouldn't be surprised if the plane is flying by next week, they probably just have to bolt on a new nose wheel.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:54:42 -0800

I just want to tell you both good luck, we're all counting on you.

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:55:10 -0800

...and do some seat cleanings.

By: eriko

eriko — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:04:02 -0800

The flight crew wins. Zonker, however, wins also. I wouldn't be surprised if the plane is flying by next week, they probably just have to bolt on a new nose wheel. Actually, the plane's almost certainly headed to the hanger for a bit. For one thing, the FAA and NTSB are going to want to take apart the nose gear to figure out what locked it, secondly, if the plane was still heavy when it landed, it's an automatic D check. At minimum, the plane's going to get a rebuilt nose gear and a very careful look at the main gear and brakes, and probably new tires all around -- that yaw on landing probably ate a bunch of rubber.

By: Mid

Mid — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:09:14 -0800

Enough with the seat cleanings.

By: dabitch

dabitch — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:22:44 -0800

yeah those stains will never come out.

By: azazello

azazello — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:23:36 -0800

Guess I'm late to the show :o Actually, I suspect they didn't emergency evacuate because they were pretty sure there was no danger of fire and it's well known that the panic and rush and the slides carry a high chance of broken ankles and heart attacks. Glad the landing worked out.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:25:49 -0800

So they saved money and have a good reason for doing so, a win-win.

By: chasing

chasing — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 21:22:25 -0800

Look, to me a clean seat is very important.

By: pwedza

pwedza — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:05:07 -0800

. Metafilter makes me feel so much closer to life... . . .

By: pwedza

pwedza — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:05:20 -0800

. . .

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:52:49 -0800

Hi-res photo of the landing

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:55:09 -0800

Another hi-res photo, of the plane in the air and a nice view of the landing gear.

By: marvin

marvin — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:33:17 -0800

Couldn't they have flown somewhere wet in the time they spent burning off fuel? They could have landed on a damp runway somewhere and taken the edge off that blaze of magnesium alloy...

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:54:59 -0800

So do they not just dump fuel anymore, or is there another reason why they spent a while burning it off instead of just venting it?

By: Swervo

Swervo — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 00:57:58 -0800

marvin: Couldn't they have flown somewhere wet in the time they spent burning off fuel? They could have landed on a damp runway somewhere and taken the edge off that blaze of magnesium alloy... I was sorta wondering if they shouldn't have just flown it to JFK to burn off the fuel.

By: calwatch

calwatch — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 01:32:44 -0800

The Airbus can't dump fuel.

By: Joeforking

Joeforking — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 03:17:50 -0800

Although there was nothing about the incident that suggested terrorism, after passengers and crew walked away from the plane, every piece of luggage from the flight was placed in a neat grid on the runway and subjected to a rigorous search. A bomb-sniffing dog took a whiff of every bag and found nothing unusual. The luggage was later rounded up for normal handling. Authorities had no official comment on the procedure. (from NBC4) WTF?

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 06:58:08 -0800

marvin writes "They could have landed on a damp runway somewhere and taken the edge off that blaze of magnesium alloy..." Magnesium will burn under water once you get it lit, a damp run way wouldn't provide enough cooling to prevent the initial ignition but would decrease the braking effectiveness of the main gear increasing stopping distance.

By: shoez

shoez — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 08:26:00 -0800

Those damn 'O' rings again eh.....

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 08:28:37 -0800

If you watch carefully, the pilot didn't use reverse thrust or spoilers because it would cause more downward pressure on the nose gear. posted by SirOmega at 10:26 PM EST on September 21 [!] That sounds right to me, but how come there was no foam on the runway? Or is that only used in movies?? Anyhow...fantastic feat, that genius pilot is going to need a new liver by the time he collects on all those drinks.

By: gramschmidt

gramschmidt — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:03:33 -0800

After reading Joeforking's excerpt, I, too, wish to say WHAT THE FUCK? Absolutely fucking ridiculous. Terrorists turned the landing gear sideways with ther luggage. Jesus fucking bat piss cock cunt fuck p8p 9#*p 8(#[p}#_(u[0*U@(*

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:10:14 -0800

Tell us how you really feel, gram! :) Yeah, that's pretty stupid and paranoid, isnt' it.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:15:34 -0800

I was sorta wondering if they shouldn't have just flown it to JFK to burn off the fuel. Perhaps JFK is a busier airport?

By: mazola

mazola — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 10:29:32 -0800

I was sorta wondering if they shouldn't have just flown it to JFK to burn off the fuel. Actually because of the position of the landing gear, it could not be retracted. Flying with gear down lowers the attainable flight ceiling and increases drag, both of which mean they wouldn't have enough fuel to reach JFK.

By: ooga_booga

ooga_booga — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:41:15 -0800

Short, firsthand account of being on Flight 292 from the folks at Apartment Therapy. Includes a picture taken in the cabin.

By: Mid

Mid — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:55:18 -0800

Dude, that's an account of being on some other Jet Blue flight.

By: ooga_booga

ooga_booga — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:10:08 -0800

D'oh! My mistake.

By: Iax

Iax — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:31:28 -0800

THey said they dont use foam anymore because it actually doesnt help stop any fires, and it is a real pain in the ass to clean up afterwards.