Ask Captain Lim ~ All about Aviation

Hi Captain Lim,

I am referring to the incident of ANA DHC-8 that failed to extend its nose gear when landing on 13 Mar in Kochi Airport, Southern Japan.

I read in your Forum Airplane Emergencies FAQ that if such a situation occurs, the ground staff could have sprayed foam to reduce the friction when the plane lands. For the DHC-8 incident, from what I saw in the video clip here, it seemed that there was indeed a patch of white foam or probably that was no foam at all.

I would like to ask you, if that was foam, shouldn*t the staff have sprayed over a much longer area as what I saw is that the nose actually touched the ground only after the main landing gears got in touch with the ground for some time? I suppose that the pilot did his best to keep the nose up. If that area I saw in the clip was not foam, then shouldn*t the staff spray more foam given that the they had ample time to prepare for ambulances while the plane circled for an hour?

Thanks for the reply in advance!

Regards,

Chin

"Will I Make It?"

Hi Chin,

Yes, I have viewed the nose-up landing and noted that some foam was sprayed on the runway prior to the landing. At the end of the roll when the nose came into contact with the ground, there were some sparks and no noticeable foam.

I do agree with you that the ground emergency crew should have sprayed more foam for the expected landing roll to preclude the sparks from causing a greater fire. Fortunately, there was no explosion or fire in the end.

Well, I believe the airport authority would also discuss this issue during the inquiry into the nose wheel refused-to-extend incident in the aftermath of all these.