Live- Jet Blue Emergency Landing

[Wakko]

I don't mean to be an asshole and take away from the pilot's good work, but since the wheel was perfectly perpendicular to motion, wouldn't he just have to keep the thrusters even and the plane will keep itself straight?  I know he had to do a soft-field type landing (keeps the nose up as long as possible) but I would think straight momentum would keep that sucker straight.   Passengers said it was a softer landing than they have felt on a normal ride, so he definitely did a good job, I'm not trying to take away from that.   Kudos to the landing gear manufacturer for staying together.

[Troy]

I don't mean to be an asshole and take away from the pilot's good work, but since the wheel was perfectly perpendicular to motion, wouldn't he just have to keep the thrusters even and the plane will keep itself straight? I know he had to do a soft-field type landing (keeps the nose up as long as possible) but I would think straight momentum would keep that sucker straight. Passengers said it was a softer landing than they have felt on a normal ride, so he definitely did a good job, I'm not trying to take away from that. Kudos to the landing gear manufacturer for staying together.

Was it "perfectly perpendicular"? If it were a few degrees off it may have had a pretty major effect but it looks like the tires blew out before it could do much of anything. The front wheels play a larger role in steering the plane as it slows so keeping it off the ground as long as possible could actually increase the chances of a sudden swerve - just at a lower speed. If there were a sudden change in direction the pilot would use the rudder and not engine thrust to compensate (engines on big jets take a few seconds to do anything and you'd be halfway into the terminal before you changed direction). Also, engine thrust and/or rudder movement would swing (yaw) the plane from the back. The pivot point would be near the main landing gear which are closer to the back of the plane. Think of the physics of a see-saw, the longer lever requires less force than the shorter one. If the front wheel was locked into a straight position (or, worse, 45 degrees to one side) it would take an incredible amount of force to steer the plane at slow speed with weight on the nose. On the other hand, if the front landing gear were to snap off, then it would be nearly impossible to steer the plane and the laws of physics would force it in a straight line relative to its forward motion.

Troy

[4402tuff4u]

I'm not sure about the airbus or other heavy aircraft, but on small planes you can steer a plane with the brakes. You apply the brakes with your tip toes on the rudder pedals. I flown a Lake Land Renegade (amphibious) that has a nose wheel but it's a free steering nose caster type wheel. Talk about tricky!! You steer with power and brakes! I believe the commercial planes are the same as the private planes, however by applying the brakes as soon as the plane touchess down, it transfer's all the load to the nose gear. That's why the pilot used up most of the runway (12,000 feet +/-) to keep weight off the nose gear. He probably had everyone inside fill all the seats from the rear of the plane first to keep the weight balance behind the rear landing gear. I would of. I'm not sure, but he probably came in with full flap configuration to land at the lowest possible speed and as soon as the plane touched he kept the yoke up against his chest until the plane came down on it's own. The crew did a good job.
A friend of mine that flies for Southwest said that some larger planes have a joist stick for steering purposes.

[Troy]

Yeah, I didn't mention the brakes for the same reason I didn't bring up the thrust reversers - it would plant all the weight on the nose. Some planes I've been in have a steerable nose wheel that isn't connected to the rudder but I honestly don't know the big jets well enough to know how they are set up. I don't know about loading all the passengers in the rear but I can imagine that full flaps were used.

Troy

[Drache]

All the big jets I've ever seen didn't have steerable nose gear. Thus the reason they use those small airport truck thingys to pull/steer the plane. I was surprised because to tell you honoestly I figured once those tires blew and the rims hit that runway, that thing would have nose dived.

[RD]

I will say it, God intervened.

[Troy]

Actually, this appears to be a common problem on those planes (well, in the tiny numbers involved it's still common). And... they did actually move people and passengers to the back. You learn something new every day...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/20050923/ts_latimes/7airbusjetshadlandinggeartrouble

Uh, Drache, the trucks usually just attach a bar into the landing gear to steer it like a trailer. When the plane is shut down there are no hydraulics to turn the gear. If the nose gear wasn't steerable then they'd never be able to taxi to the runways. That doesn't mean it steers separately from the rudder though which is what i was referring to and what I thought 4402tuff4u meant.

Troy

[Drache]

My mistake Troy but the Airbus line of 320's do not have steerable nose geers, They steer with the rudder.

[Troy]

My mistake Troy but the Airbus line of 320's do not have steerable nose geers, They steer with the rudder.

OK. I'll try to remember that next time I fly one. Ah, never mind then...

Troy

[Charger_Fan]

I was surprised because to tell you honoestly I figured once those tires blew and the rims hit that runway, that thing would have nose dived.

I wasn't too surprised that it didn't nose dive because the pilot set it down so gently. Once the tires burned away & it started grinding a flat spot on the rims, it would be more like a ski & should slide easier.
The only bad thing would be if he hit a lump or crack in the runway to catch the wheel, but they're usually nice & smooth.

Regardless, it could have easily turned disasterous. It would have been an extremely tense few minutes for everyone involved...I wonder how many hopped aboard another plane to get to New York?

[4402tuff4u]

I think half of them jumped in another plane and headed to NY. I also heard that one of the passengers had another mechanical mishap on another plane! That's what I heard this morning from the guy's here at work.

I'm also surprised that the airport did not apply the anti-flaming foam down the center line of the runway. The way I look at it, that would of kept the flames down and lubricated the landing gear against the concrete pavement.

[Charger_Fan]

I'm also surprised that the airport did not apply the anti-flaming foam down the center line of the runway. The way I look at it, that would of kept the flames down and lubricated the landing gear against the concrete pavement.

Actually, you're probably right...I wonder why they didn't?
The only excuse I can think of is that maybe it would have splashed into the engines & caused throttle problems? I dunno.

[BigBlackDodge]

I think half of them jumped in another plane and headed to NY. I also heard that one of the passengers had another mechanical mishap on another plane! That's what I heard this morning from the guy's here at work.

I'm also surprised that the airport did not apply the anti-flaming foam down the center line of the runway. The way I look at it, that would of kept the flames down and lubricated the landing gear against the concrete pavement.

I think I heard that it was the pilots option to have that done or not.

BBD