Nosewheel Failed To Deploy; All Safe After Emergency Landing

All Nippon Airways took the drastic step Tuesday of grounding its 13-plane fleet of Bombardier DHC-8-Q400 turboprop airliners, one day after the nosegear failed to deploy during a flight from Osaka to Kochi. The Japanese government also ordered immediate inspections of all 36 "Dash-8s" used in Japan.

None of the 56 passengers and four crew was injured as the pilot of the stricken turboprop made a series of hard touch-and-go landings on the plane's mainwheels, in an attempt to bump the nosewheel into place. When those attempts proved unsuccessful, the pilot circled the Kochi airport to burn off fuel --- before bringing the plane in for a spot-on, though spark-filled, landing.

"It was almost a perfect emergency landing," NHK quoted aviation expert Soichi Kaji, according to the Associated Press. "Apparently the pilot was very calm and did just as he was trained."

This isn't the first time ANA has had problems with its Canadian-built DHC-8s. In February 2006, a flight crew was forced to deploy their plane's landing gear manually after all three sets of wheels refused to come down. Later that same month, two more DHC-8s made emergency landings in Osaka after pilots received indications of faulty heating systems, and a faulty door latch.

Those incidents -- along with the 2004 loss of a right maingear wheel on another Dash-8 as it landed in Kochi, and a 2005 cockpit and cabin smoke incident that forced an emergency landing in Osaka -- led ANA's president to apologize for the problems during a June 2006 shareholders meeting. On Tuesday, Executive Vice President Shin Nagase made a similar mea culpa, apologizing for "causing great concern."

On Tuesday, Japan's Transport Ministry ordered emergency inspections for all 36 Bombardier DHC-8s in use by Japanese carriers, citing possible problems with the aircraft's landing gear, according to ministry official Yasuo Ishii. There have been 77 incidents involving DHC-8 aircraft in Japan since 2003.

Bombardier had no immediate comment on this latest incident, though the company is reportedly working with airlines to solve issues with its DHC-8.

"There has been trouble, but no accidents," acknowledged Masaki Okahata, spokesman for Sojitz Corporation, the trading company that is also Bombardier's representative in Japan. "Instead of laying blame, the airlines are talking with the manufacturer about the matter."

FMI: www.anaskyweb.com/us/e, www.bombardier.com