Nose Gear Collapses, Passengers Felt "Two Big Bumps"

Landing gear issues forced a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 to make an emergency landing at Oakland International Airport Sunday.

Southwest Flight 3050 had departed Sacramento International Airport, bound for San Diego, and had been in the air about an hour and a half when the pilots noted a nose landing gear indicator light, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The SWA pilots diverted to OAK, telling passengers an "issue" needed to be checked out.

According Southwest spokeswoman Linda Rutherford, pilots flew over San Francisco Bay trying to get the landing gear to go through a complete cycle of lowering and retraction. OAK spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said the pilots then decided to have an air traffic controller get a visual on the gear.

After getting a confirmation the gear was lowered, pilots made the emergency landing... when the nose gear collapsed on touch down.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said that at some point, the pilot reported to controllers he had three green lights -- indicating that all three of the plane's landing gear mechanisms were properly functioning, down, and locked.

It is still unclear if the landing gear retracted or broke off. Gregor said the more likely scenario is retraction.

"It could break off -- but that's a chance in 100,000," he said.

There were no injuries reported of the 119 passengers and crew members on board. All were evacuated via an inflatable slide, said Southwest spokeswoman Beth Harbin.

Passengers have since continued their respective trips to San Diego after complaining to reporters the airline didn't tell them what was going on while they circled the airport, said the Chronicle.

The runway remained closed Sunday while awaiting a crane to remove the 737. Airport officials expected it to be fully functional by Monday. Despite the closure, there were no flight service disruptions, according to KPIX Channel 5 News. Planes were switched to an adjacent north field runway, OAK spokeswoman Cyndy Johnson said.

Gregor credited the pilot with making a safe landing under potentially dire circumstances. Passengers told reporters they only felt "two big bumps" on landing.

"Given what they were dealing with, obviously the pilot did a terrific job bringing the plane down," he said.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: SWA3050        Make/Model: B737      Description: 737
  Date: 06/03/2007     Time: 2230

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

LOCATION
  City: OAKLAND   State: CA   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT 3050, A BOEING 737 AIRCRAFT, REPORTED LANDING
  GEAR PROBLEMS, DIVERTED, AND NOSE GEAR RETRACTED DURING LANDING ROLL, NO
  INJURIES REPORTED TO THE 119 PERSONS ON BOARD, OAKLAND, CA

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass: 119     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: 29012KT 10SM FEW008 BKN200 19/11 A3003

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Landing      Operation: Air Carrier

  FAA FSDO: OAKLAND, CA  (WP27)                   Entry date: 06/04/2007

FMI: www.oaklandairport.com, www.southwest.com