I just saw a video (apparently from 2005) where a JetBlue airplane had its frontwheels pretty much twisted 90°. So they were still out, just not spinning. In the video the plane landed safely, although there was quite a bit of smoke coming of the front wheel, I assume due to friction.
But what else could have happened? What would be a worst case scenario?
In: 10
Worst case the nose gear fails and it collapses onto the nose and slides off the side of the runway. Digs in and flips the whole thing over.
The main danger is that the front landing gear would break – instead of forward momentum being transferred into the wheel which is rotating properly, that momentum is putting a lot more strain on not just the wheel, but the “arm” that connects it to the plane and everything else in the equasion. If that snaps, the plane would fall forward on its nose and the faster it’s moving, the more damage it would cause.
It could trip. The front landing gear has wheels, which the inertia of the plane would get transferred into. But if the wheel is twisted, all that momentum is going to go into snapping the mechanism and the plane’s nose might hit the ground
Worst case scenario is the plane lands hard without its front wheel and the whole plane breaks in half, explodes and everyone dies.
Too much weight and speed snapping the front gear clean off. If that happened the nose of the plane would have to hold up while grinding on the runway. This would really damage the airframe, and could potentially lead to worse situations where the airframe brakes up or catches on fire
In 1983, an Air Canada fight ran out of fuel mid flight and had to make an emergency landing at an abandoned airport (then a drag strip).
The nose gear collapsed on landing and the plane skidded to a stop before reaching the end of the runway/track. Only a few minor injuries.
The plane was named the [Gimli Glider](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider) (it landed in Gimli Manitoba) and reentered service a few days later.
There was a made for TV movie about it called Falling From the Sky and features a cameo from the real life pilot that pulled it off.
There’s an interesting variation of this with Britannia Airways 226A that you can find written up on r/admiralcloudberg
It wasn’t the cause of the crash but the front wheel apparatus broke during the landing, snapping the engine control cables and causing them to throttle back up. Worth the read if you have the time
Depends on the plane.
Giant jet or small single engine aircraft.
Ive seen a single engine aircraft land with its landing gear stuck up…
It lined up well and reduced its speed while holding up the nose. It stopped within about 800 feet on the runway.. shooting sparks. No injuries
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