Wheels down please!

Bill M · 20-12-2006, 06:49 AM

Here is a link to a estimated $7.9 million USD screw up.

http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bombers4.html

Ouch!
cheers
Bill.

Outbackjack · 20-12-2006, 07:00 AM

They say that there are two kinds of pilot's. One kind has forgotten to lower the gear. The other has yet to forget to lower the gear.....

:

pb02 · 20-12-2006, 08:12 AM

I would have thought the landing gear would automatically come down at a certain altitude?!?!?!

Oh well, I'm sure they will get $10 a week taken from their pay to cover the costs.

Martyvan · 20-12-2006, 08:16 AM

That is one awesome looking aircraft....

Shame about the runway damage...

photn · 20-12-2006, 08:36 AM

lol leave it to the americans to do sumthing like this......lol i like the cost of the runway to fix. 15k lol.......

Scott · 20-12-2006, 08:52 AM

That'll buff out....

flappist · 20-12-2006, 08:53 AM

The pilot forgot to lower the gear?
The pilot in command (there are two) of a multi crew AND the FO forgot to lower the gear?
The PIC, FO and ATC (military control zone) all forgot to lower the gear?
The PIC, FO, ATC and all the electronics FORGOT TO LOWER THE GEAR?

I smell a rat.........

**Polyal** · 20-12-2006, 09:14 AM

LOL...surely there was a mechanical failure.

What a sexy piece of machinery though!

4.9 EF Futura · 20-12-2006, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

The pilot forgot to lower the gear?
The pilot in command (there are two) of a multi crew AND the FO forgot to lower the gear?
The PIC, FO and ATC (military control zone) all forgot to lower the gear?
The PIC, FO, ATC and all the electronics FORGOT TO LOWER THE GEAR?

I smell a rat.........

Ive never been any good at reading between the lines.

Are you saying it's usually mechanical failure when this occurs? I guess its more palattable to blame the blokes who fly them than it is to fault a multi million dollar piece of uncle sam's arsenal...

flappist · 20-12-2006, 10:00 AM

In a two crew environment, the pilot flying (PIC) is actuall driving the aircraft while the other pilot goes through the checklist for landing. One of those those checks is gear down, normally called as "3 greens" for the green lights that come on as the gear locks in place. So BOTH of the very senior pilots would have to have buggered up and you do not get to fly a B1-B the week after graduating flying school.
Further to this, it is normal practice for the controller when giving "clear to land" to also call "confirm greens" To which the PIC replies "Clear to land, 3 greens".
This is left over from the good old days when there were many single pilot military aircraft but aviation is bastion of tradition and repetition. Checks are done over and over again the same way EVERY time.
If you started to learn to fly tomorrow you will be taught the landing checks for a Spitfire (BUMPFISH) which has been the standard ab initio training system for over 60 years.

To have all these procedures fail is a bit TOO coincedental, but I wasn't there so whatever......

Outbackjack · 20-12-2006, 10:28 AM

It also says that there was a fire that ground crews put out. There is not much evidence of fire damage to the A/C. That to me would say that the ground crew were close at hand. I reckon that is was failure of a mechanical kind.

XR Martin · 20-12-2006, 11:41 AM

Aircraft have an audible voice screaming at you below a certain altitude when the landing gear is up. And surely the air traffic controller would have noticed it was up too.

coupdy do · 20-12-2006, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Aircraft have an audible voice screaming at you below a certain altitude when the landing gear is up. And surely the air traffic controller would have noticed it was up too.

Do they? don't think military a/c do... Cessnas don't

Quite correct in saying that the A/c Controller should have noticed.

Have read some funny stories about amphibous a/c as you need to put the undercarriage down for land and up for water (or you somersault) : it adds another dimension..... "i am landing but what on!"

flappist · 20-12-2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coupdy do

Do they? don't think military a/c do... Cessnas don't

Well actually Citation Xs etc do and all of the new bug smashers have fixed gear so it is a bit pointless.

I had a good look at a B1-B in 2004 but it was shut down. It did, however have lots and lots of strange looking avionics.......

Outbackjack · 20-12-2006, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coupdy do

Do they? don't think military a/c do... Cessnas don't

Quite correct in saying that the A/c Controller should have noticed.

Have read some funny stories about amphibous a/c as you need to put the undercarriage down for land and up for water (or you somersault) : it adds another dimension..... "i am landing but what on!"

My old arrow had a system that lowered the gear automatically if it thought that you were going to land. Problem is there was a switch that would let you override the system. It was never turned on.

Chrispy · 20-12-2006, 05:13 PM

Aren't they designed to fly very close to the ground when attacking. Thus an auto lowering landing gear would be inappropriate. If the plane was in trouble and had to hop it back to the states, I would assume they would not have had time to do a flyby to check the landing gear.

Its a lot of money to us, but in the US Military budget, not that bad.

Chrispy

Bluefreak · 20-12-2006, 05:34 PM

A speed camera would have prevented that...