Sukhoi SuperJet 100 lands gear up

A Sukhoi SuperJet 100 (97005) was performing test flights, evaluating the CAT IIIa autolanding system, when the aircraft impacted the runway with the landing gear retracted. There were five crew members on board, one had to be taken to the hospital, and the aircraft was severely damaged.

An Sukhoi Design Bureau Sukhoi Superjet 100-95, registration 97005 performing test flight 97007 from Keflavik to Keflavik (Iceland) with 5 crew on board, was performing cross wind landing tests on Keflavik's runway 11, when the aircraft landed on its belly at 05:26L (05:26Z) with all gear up and slid off the runway. One crew member received injuries and needed to be taken to hospital, the aircraft received substantial damage.

Authorities in Iceland do not rule out a technical problem or human error as cause of the accident. Iceland's RNF have opened an investigation into the accident.

Sukhoi reported the aircraft was conducting test flights to evaluate the CAT IIIa automatic landing system on one engine in strong crosswinds. 3 flight crew and 2 certification engineers were on board. One of the certification engineers received a leg injury during evacuation.

avherald.com...

reply to post by Zaphod58


...and here, we have an example of what Ooops looks like with 6 zeros on the end of a price tag. I wonder how many paychecks it takes to pay for that one? Best of wishes to the injury of course.

I suppose it's a case of 'any landing you can walk away from.....', right?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm wondering if it's a matter of they simply forgot (I've heard of it happening to a B-1, and a C-17, and saw it happen to a T-33, and an A-4 where he didn't even try to put them down). They got distracted, skipped a couple steps in the checklist, and suddenly got the gear buzzer, and went "oh crap".

reply to post by Zaphod58


I'd imagine they did get that distinctly 'let down' feeling about the same moment they realized, whatever day they'd been having had just gotten much worse. lol....

At least their capacity for 'Ooops' appears to have been matched by some real skill in coming up to speed and reacting instantly, eh? I imagine a mistake or two in that moment of panicky realization could have really changed the outcome.

I'm assuming by the fact no one has any clue what caused this, they screwed up and aren't bragging about it. They'd have called ahead with a known problem, right? They'd have felt gear dropping or not dropping, wouldn't they? I've always felt it on commercial planes in both cases?

Sounds strange for a test flight about the landing gear that they were not checking that part out every 5 seconds....even down to putting camera's into the wheel bays so they can visually confirm they have deployed....sounds like someones in for a mother of a debrief and no wages for the next 500 years

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


If they had a problem, they should have aborted, done a flyby after letting the tower know, and worked the problem. That's one reason I say I wonder if they just forgot.

You don't feel them dropping, so much as you feel the drag from them hanging down in the slipstream. It creates a lot of drag, and they should have noticed it. It's going to depend on how long they had been doing the tests, and how close they were to being done. It may have been a case of "hotelitis" (can't say "gohomeitis" since they weren't at home), and they were deciding where to go for dinner, and what to do that night after the flight ended, and got distracted (that's what happened with all three of those I mentioned, they were distracted by non-flying issues) and missed some steps on their checklist.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Okay, well, a real question then, since it comes up? On every flight I've been on, I've both heard and felt the main body gear retracting after take off and dropping before landing. Now, it's important to note here, I've never been onboard a transcontinental class jet. Always cross country, at most. So, none of these huge triple row small towns with wings, where I imagine such sensations would be totally lost to the sheer mass and levels of the plane. 737's and such, for me. Not too far off what this one looked like?

So the question... Is that sensation/vibration felt in the cabin just something not felt in the more solid and enclosed flight area?

From the sounds of it, it seems that this was an automated landing sequence. Perhaps the designers thought they would be clever and incorporated the deployment of the landing gear into the automated system.

Then again, whether it was an auto or manual system, a good pilot always check for wheels out. It's just good airmanship.

Given that they were testing this particular system I think they must have had a faulty gread down indicator, or that the landing gear never locked into place once it was opened and then collapsed upon landing.

An expensive oversight nontheless.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Yes, and no. You'll feel the nose gear moving, but not the mains. And you'll feel the drag increase.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
So the question... Is that sensation/vibration felt in the cabin just something not felt in the more solid and enclosed flight area?

In the cabin you are pretty close to the main gear, as well as the things that make them move. On the older jets, you could really feel and here those suckers down and locked. The last flight I was on (middle-age A320) you could barely tell when the mains were down, and even the vibrations when locked were pretty light. That's only going to get harder to feel when you're a pilot at the nose, far away from the gear and with other things on your mind. The biggest indication would be the green lights showing gear down and locked, or something on the MFD/EICAS.

At least one report says they were practicing ILS CATIII landings, with a simulated engine out condition, in 24 knot winds.

Sukhoi has said that the accident will not delay Cat IIIa certification. Cat IIIa certification allows for landing with decision heights below 100 feet, and 200 feet from the runway. Sukhoi has said they have performed enough landings to be able to meet ICAO certification regulations.

In Russia, plane crashes you.

The crew had asked permission to do a missed approach, with single engine conditions (simulated engine out) on the mishap landing. They were operating close to max weight, in crosswinds. The crew deployed the landing gear, then retracted it, but the aircraft failed to climb after the gear was raised. The crew was required to climb with the gear retracted.

www.flightglobal.com...

Meanwhile, Sukhoi has revealed that the program is operating under a debt of $2.1B. A total of 10 aircraft have been produced so far this year, with three delivered. They are expecting to produce 26 this year, and 40 next year. Initial customers have been granted steep discounts on the price of the aircraft, as well as loans in USD and Euros, which with the exchange rate, makes the payments high.

www.flightglobal.com...

OK then ATC wasn't supposed to see wheels down....it was a missed..

ooppps
that wasnt planned
silly pilots..