C-310 Lands With Nosewheel Askew

It was a relatively mundane emergency landing, as those things go... and thanks to today's video-intensive society, it was captured for eternity.

KTLA-5 was one of several Los Angeles television stations on the scene Tuesday afternoon, as the pilot of a 1955 Cessna C-310 made a textbook landing at Van Nuys Airport (VNY) with its nosegear unlocked.

The station reports the aircraft departed Van Nuys bound for Camarillo on an IFR flight plan... when the pilot noticed the plane's nosewheel hadn't retracted. A tower flyby confirmed the nosegear was still down, but unlocked.

The pilot then flew circuits around VNY for about an hour, burning off fuel -- a normal safety precaution for such events, according to FAA Western Region spokesman Ian Gregor.

While on final approach to Van Nuys' famed runway 16-Right, the pilot elected to shut down both engines, and then cranked each until the propellers were nearly horizontal, to minimize the chances of prop damage. The right prop fell into place relatively quickly... but the pilot continued cranking the left engine through the flare, before it settled into position.

The twin Cessna landed hard on its maingear on the displaced threshold for 16R, briefly skidding on its tail as the pilot held the nose high off the ground. As it slowed, the plane settled onto its nose, and skidded to a stop on the numbers.

Both the pilot and passenger then exited the aircraft, unharmed.

(Screengrab from KTLA-5)

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 2651C        Make/Model: C310      Description: 310, T310 (U-3, L-27)
  Date: 11/25/2008     Time: 2022

  Event Type: Incident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Minor

LOCATION
  City: VAN NUYS   State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT LANDED VAN NUYS AIRPORT WITH A COCKED NOSE GEAR THAT COLLAPSED
  AFTER TOUCH DOWN.

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: VNY METAR 2022Z 1804KT 9SM 170 230 BKN 22/08 A2999

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Training      Phase: Landing      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: VAN NUYS, CA  (WP01)                  Entry date: 11/26/2008

FMI: www.faa.gov