Posted on 11/29/2024 3:29:17 PM PST by george76
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday(opens in a new tab).
The over-the-air broadcasts reviewed by Noovo Info(opens in a new tab) reveal that the control tower wasn't aware that the plane had experienced a mechanical issue before approaching the runway.
The issue was detected after Flight NRL 662, operated by Nolinor, took off from Quebec City's Jean Lesage Airport Wednesday morning en route to Wabush airport in Newfoundland and Labrador, with a stop at Saguenay-Bagotville Airport.
...
However, a technical issue prevented the Boeing 737-400, carrying 87 passengers and seven crew members, from landing in Saguenay.
The crew then declared an in-flight emergency, known as "Pan-Pan," before the plane was diverted to Mirabel. Pan-Pan, a standard message in the aviation industry, is the less urgent equivalent of Mayday to signal a non-life-threatening emergency.
The Mirabel control tower was allegedly not informed of the signal.
"Affirmative. We had this from the start on the approach to Bagotville," replied one of the pilots when asked about the emergency broadcast. "I'm really curious that the transfer from Montreal wasn't included in the message on Pan! Pan!"
...
Typically, when the urgent call is made, emergency vehicles position themselves close to the runway and wait for the aircraft in trouble, however, none of that was done, Noovo Info reported.
The controller asked the Nolinor pilots if they wanted the firetrucks to respond, but they refused because they believed they were only dealing with a flap problem.
...
Then, a few moments later, the plane touched down but the left landing gear malfunctioned, causing the plane to be off-balance upon landing at high speed.
Video footage obtained by Noovo Info shows sparks and smoke from the engine scraping the runway. The force of the landing caused the oxygen masks to be deployed.
"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Nolinor 662," one of the pilots shouted.
The controller then replies, "We're rolling the [emergency] vehicles."
The pilot asks if there is smoke visible. The controller replies, "there was no flame" and the "smoke was dissipating."
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Nolinor said all passengers and crew members were evacuated safely from the aircraft with no reported injuries.
Plane sustained 'significant damage,' TSB says ..
The federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB), which deployed a team to the airport on Wednesday and is still investigating, confirmed to CTV News Thursday evening that the aircraft experienced a flap problem on approach to Bagotville airport and the pilots declared an emergency.
"During deceleration after landing with the flaps retracted at Montreal-Mirabel airport, the left main landing gear collapsed until the left engine touched the ground. The aircraft continued on its engine-supported path until it came to a complete stop on the runway," the TSB's summary of the incident stated.
The agency said there was no fire but the plane sustained "significant damage."
...
Nolinor said the passengers involved were put on another flight Wednesday night that departed from Montreal-Trudeau Airport.
"Our team continues to fully cooperate with the TSB to determine the exact causes of the incident," the airline said in the statement. "At this time, the precise cause has not yet been established, and any information circulating at present is purely speculative."
🙏🙏🙏 Praise heaven for a safe landing.
So they actually experienced two failures. Wow.
The flap failure may have caused the plane to put undue pressure on one side’s landing gear.
Most likely.
This one appears to be a hydraulic and electrical system failure involving the flaps. The plane landed without flaps extended.
The collapse of the landing gear point to a hydraulic failure too. Failed to achieve down and locked?? with no unsafe indicator???
All said and done, that 737 is a tough little bird.
Sabotage, anyone......hmmmm?
Now I liked the Boeing 737-300 to 737-800 series
Except for that hard over rudder
It was fixed but only after two complete hull losses with all aboard ( almost a third but they had enough altitude to recover)
The video of the cabin with oxygen masks hanging suggests a harder than normal landing.
A hard landing greater than design limits can cause a gear to collapse.
Grade #5 bolts are not Grade #8 bolts.
Hot landing ...
this from a press realease from the airline..
“We are pleased to confirm that all passengers and crew members are safe. The passengers were taken care of by our team at Mirabel and were able to reach their destination on another flight departing from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport later in the evening.”
no thanks, where is the car rental desk and your corporate card please?
They claim..
“Safety is Nolinor Aviation’s top priority, so we are quick to comply with new regulations, which is why our team was the first in Canada’s civil aviation history to receive its complete Safety Management Systems (SMS) approval.”
guess till today..
“My first question would be “Who does their maintenance/inspections and when was the last time?”
Since it’s Canada, likely Abdul S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider
Most certainly but unless they hit hard on that side, the main gear should take it. They are designed to shear with high vertical forces so they don't puncture the wing tanks.
If they were squawking 7700, the a/c's radar tag should have been marked with a red EM.
So A) this reporter doesn't know enough about aviation to know what questions to ask,
and B) somebody -- either the cockpit crew or the controller -- didn't follow standard emergency procedures.
My son is a pilot for Southwest and had to make an emergency landing last week due to a bird strike. They were taking off from Phoenix when a bird hit the windshield shortly after takeoff. Son said it sounded like a gunshot when it stuck. Fortunately there were no injuries and the windshield stayed in tact.
They made an emergency landing on the same runway they’d just taken off from.
Striker : Mayday! Mayday!
Steve McCroskey : What the heck is that?
Johnny : Why, that’s the Russian New Year. We can have a parade and serve hot hors d’oeuvres...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.