A Cargolux Boeing 747 had a pretty eventful emergency landing this evening…
In this post:
A Cargolux 747’s emergency landing in Luxembourg
This incident happened today (Sunday, May 14, 2023), and involves Cargolux flight CV6857, which was scheduled to operate from Luxembourg (LUX) to Chicago (ORD). The flight was operated by a roughly 23-year-old Boeing 747-400 with the registration code LX-OCV.
The plane took off from Luxembourg at 6:09PM local time. The aircraft was unable to retract its gear after taking off, so the decision was made to return to Luxembourg.
For large jets, the maximum takeoff weight is typically significantly higher than the maximum landing weight. As a result, some fuel was dumped, in order to get under the maximum landing weight. So the flight circled around the area for a while, and then landed back in Luxembourg at 7:01PM local time, 52 minutes after departing.
Unfortunately that landing wasn’t routine. A Boeing 747 has a total of 18 wheels — there’s a set of two in the front, and then four sets of four under the center of the fuselage and the wings. Shortly after the aircraft touched down, the right center landing gear totally detached from the aircraft.
The jumbo jet was able to come to a controlled stop on the runway, and emergency services quickly arrived on scene. Fortunately no one onboard or on the ground was injured. Following the incident, the aircraft remained on the runway.
You can see video footage of the landing for yourself below.
For those not familiar with Cargolux, this is a well regarded cargo airline based in Luxembourg, which operates a fleet of 30 Boeing 747s around the globe. I see Cargolux planes taking off and landing almost every day at Miami Airport, as it’s one of the few carriers to operate 747s here (we also have Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Lufthansa, and a few other operators that visit us occasionally).
How could something like this happen?
I’m sure a thorough investigation will be performed that will reveal what happened here. It’ll be interesting to see what caused the gear to come off during landing. Was this the same problem that caused the gear not to retract to begin with, or was the plane somehow still landing too heavy, and something about the touchdown put too much stress on the center right gear?
Just a month ago, a Cargolux Boeing 747 had another serious landing incident at Luxembourg Airport. The aircraft bounced on landing, leading to the left wing dropping, which caused the left engine to touch the runway.
It’s always hard to know just how significant the damage will be in situations like that. Impressively enough, the plane was back in service within five days. I’m curious how long it takes the 747 that lost a gear to get back into service…
Bottom line
A Cargolux Boeing 747 had an eventful landing in Luxembourg this evening. The aircraft departed as scheduled, but the gear wouldn’t retract, so the pilots dumped fuel and returned to the airport. Then when the plane touched down, the right center landing gear separated from the aircraft, which is something you don’t often see.
What do you make of this Cargolux Boeing 747 incident?
Would the fuel have been dumped over the land ??
I have been given to understand that a B747 is designed to be able to land with only the nose gear and any one set of the main gears (that is: nose + wing gears OR nose + body gears).
Hypothetically, with the right conditions, i.e. 140 kts headwind, the 747 can land on an aircraft carrier.
Are planes ever unable to deploy landing gear? Don't think I have seen an example of that happening?
It happens. Just google belly landing. One of more notable events of this kind is LOT 767 in 2011. Check this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYTHznGPU6k
Oof. I think it's fair to say that this damage will *not* buff right out.
In the video, it seems to be landing at a very high speed, but I am not sure whether this is a consequence of the previous incident or of the high landing weight, presumably just below the MLW. Alternatively, the speed and presumably hard landing may have caused the wheelset separation.
wow
This incident speaks to the strength of engineering of the 747 and training-professionalism of the flight crew. I look forward to the investigation of the cause of the incident.