Circled Cecil Field In Jacksonville For Nearly An Hour Before Landing Safely

A B-24 Liberator belonging to the Collings Foundation reportedly had problems with its nose gear as it prepared to land at Cecil Field in Jacksonville during a weekend-long visit.

Television station WJXT reports that the airplane was forced to circle the airport for about an hour while the crew worked on lowering the nose gear with a crew of two and five passengers on board. The flights were being offered during the exhibition as a fundraiser for maintenance and operation of the aircraft.

The landing gear issue was reported to airport officials just before 1000 EST, according to the report. The passengers got an extra hour tacked on to their flight, finally landing at about 1135.

The pilots circled the airport to burn off fuel in case they were unable to lower the landing gear. The B-24 is equipped with hand cranks that allow the gear to be lowered manually in the event of a hydraulic failure.

The Collings Foundation says that its B-24 is the only airworthy example remaining in existence.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report