Date: August 3rd, 1997
Type: BAe Advanced Turbo-Prop (ATP)
Registration: G-BUUP
Operator: British Airways
Where: MANCHESTER, England
Report No.: Not Available
Report Date: -
Pages: -

This is not an accident investigation report.

August 3 , 1997 - British Plane Makes Emergency Landing MANCHESTER, England - A British Airways plane carrying 70 people landed safely on just two wheels Sunday, after its landing gear malfunctioned. The pilot landed by balancing the British Aerospace turbo-prop on its front wheel and right-side wheel, said officials at Manchester airport, 190 miles northwest of London. As the plane's speed decreased, the left wing came down and the craft slid to a halt, official said. One male passenger with a heart pacemaker was taken to hospital suffering from distress. Two people were treated for minor cuts. An airport spokesman said: "It was a full emergency. The plane landed on just two wheels instead of three."

An airport spokesman said the British Aerospace ATP airliner had just taken off from Manchester Airport when the captain realized the left undercarriage was not working properly and declared an emergency. The plane, headed for Knock, Ireland, ditched fuel before coming into land with just the nose and right wheels working. The pilot managed to keep the plane upright until his speed started dropping. ``Finally the left-hand wing came down and the plane just came to a halt,'' the spokesman told the domestic Press Association news agency. Those on board then escaped using emergency slides. ``The pilot did an excellent job. There were 63 passengers on board, but there was not a single casualty,'' the spokesman said. A spokesman for the ambulance service said two of those on board were treated for minor cuts.

A Greater Manchester police spokesman said of the BA landing: "A plane with 70 passengers and crew on board developed problems with its undercarriage and was forced to carry out an emergency landing at the airport."

The advanced turbo-prop airliner had jettisoned fuel before returning to Manchester Airport.


(MANCHESTER UPDATE)

Manchester (UK) - A PILOT was praised last night for safely landing an aircraft with 66 passengers on board after part of the undercarriage failed. The turbo-prop came to a halt after a wing touched the ground, throwing up sparks and starting a small fire on the runway at Manchester.

The pilot kept the plane, carrying pilgrims from Manchester to Knock, Co Mayo, balanced on two of its three sets of wheels. He had spent three hours circling over the Irish Sea to use up fuel before making the landing. A red light on the instrument panel of the BAe Advanced Turbo-Prop (ATP) had warned him shortly after take-off that one of the undercarriage legs was still down.

The passengers left the plane by emergency chutes. Two people were treated for minor cuts and one man with a heart pacemaker was taken to hospital for suffering from distress.

The plane, which had four crew, was owned by British Regional Airlines and flown under BA colours as part of a franchise agreement. Passengers on other flights faced delays last night while the runway remained closed.

Steve Bradley, assistant divisional officer of Greater Manchester Fire Brigade, said: "The plane touched down at 8.06pm, causing a small fire from sparks made as one wing touched the runway on landing. It was extinguished by firefighters by the time the plane stopped. We laid a foam blanket to prevent any fuel from igniting."

The pilot was praised by Chris Darke, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association: "It would be a very difficult manoeuvre although it is obviously one that pilots are trained for. He has operated to the highest degree of his professional training and he ought to be congratulated on that."

BA grounded its fleet of nine BAe ATPs in September 1990 after an undercarriage failure. In recent years the aircraft has gained one of the best records for reliability and safety.