Crippled Jetliner Skids to Safety in Los Angeles

Breaking News Yesterday afternoon, JetBlue flight 292 took off from Burbank, heading for JFK International in New York. The jet was loaded with 30,000 pounds of fuel for the cross-country flight. However, upon takeoff, the pilot realized that something was wrong with the front landing gear. He immediately called in a distress call. A fly-by showed that the hydraulic mechanism to lower the front gear had malfunctioned. Instead of being aligned front-to-back with the jet, it was turned 90 degrees from the norm! There was no way that this jet could land normally; at the best the crippled gear would shear off upon landing, sending the nose into the ground and skidding the massive aircraft across the runway. The pilot flew to the LA airport, where the runway is 10,000 feet long. When you're stopping without brakes, you want a lot of skidway under you. He circled for over three hours, trying to burn off fuel, since an Airbus 320 cannot dump excess fuel. They wanted as little high-octane fuel as possible in case of fire upon landing. Final approach. The pilot lowered the rear wheels to the ground, and the jet sped along the runway at a terrific speed. Slowly and carefully, the nose was lowered until the front wheels began to scrape along the ground. Plumes of smoke rose as the rubber burned against the asphalt. The wheels burned down to the metal, and a gigantic plume of flame (see photo at right) erupted from the gear, searing the belly of the speeding jet. The captain held the burning gear against the ground and reversed the engines. The wheels burned lower and lower. Any moment, they were sure that the gear would snap off entirely. At the reduced speed that they were going, this would send the nose of the plane diving into the tarmac. Everyone watching television and listening to the radio breathed a collective sigh of relief as the flames subsided and the damaged jet slowed, then stopped. With the front wheels a puddle of rubber around the smashed front gear, the captain wiped his forehead, then began turning off the controls. I can imagine the words of the passengers as the flight attendant informed them that "it is now safe to turn on cellphones," and the shuttle wheeled out to pick up the passengers. "Well, hon, the landing was a bit bumpy, but we're down in LA. You can pick me up in about thirty minutes." Praise the Lord! You can bet that there were no atheists aboard that plane when it was all said and done. In Him, D3