This is “fairly common procedure for when a craft is having a landing gear malfunction,” according to a COMCAM from MCAS Cherry Point, which govvacancy was told about. On this specific occasion, we were not directly informed.
This is “fairly common procedure for when a craft is having a landing gear malfunction,” according to a COMCAM from MCAS Cherry Point, which was shared with govvacancy.
It’s a crazy story, though.
This scene may seem familiar if you were ever a young, budding BMXer with a damaged mattress.
A few years back, a pilot reportedly encountered an unusable landing gear while in midair at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point.
The pilot was operating VMAT-203’s TAV-8B, a training variant of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II. They called base for troubleshooting after noticing that the landing gear was hung, a characteristic of Harrier IIs.
The emergency procedure (EP) for such situations is cycling through circuit breakers, cycling the gear, and asking a visual check. When none of this works, the pilot must blow down the gear.
In this scenario, none of the EP phases were successful.
After troubleshooting, the pilot phoned the MAG CO to update them on the situation.
Also Read-Why Tanushree Dutta Says She’s Being Harassed in Her Own Home? Shocking Info
Mattress placement is key
The MAG CO worried that if the pilot blew the gear down while the nose gear was still stuck up, it might shatter the aircraft’s frame. Instead, he instructed the pilot to perform a gear-up vertical landing.
The landing will most likely crush the strakes and FOD (Foreign Object Damage) the motor, which is a much better conclusion than cracking the frame. The MAG CO instructed others on the ground to quickly pile mattresses as a cushion for the nose.
When the pilot learned of the plan, he refused to execute it unless he heard it straight from the MAG CO.
The MAG CO came on the radio and asked him to do it immediately.
When the jet landed, the mattresses released a burst of metal springs and coils into the engine turbine blades. The eventual consequence was FOD on the engine and smashed strakes, as expected.
Whether the idea was dumb or smart, it appears that everyone involved came out just fine.