Nose Gear Collapses As Jet Lands
PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — The nose gear on an America West jet collapsed
Wednesday night as the plane landed, injuring three people, officials said.
The Airbus 320 from Houston, Texas, had 159 people on board, said Suzanne
Luber, spokeswoman for Sky Harbor International Airport.
The passengers evacuated the plane using emergency slides. Three people
sustained what fire officials believe were minor injuries, Luber said.
America West spokesman Jim Sabourin said they were investigating the cause of
the collapse.
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replys:
>
>According to the CNN article posted by someone else, it was an unexpected
>event. And it happened during transition from landing to taxiing (probably
>when the last bit of braking was done before the turnoff).
No, directional control ws lost during rollout (ie. still on the runway).
http://www.faa.gov/avr/aai/C_0829_N.txt
>And in terms of using the slides, one concern might be: would airstairs be
of
>any use on a plane in that attitude ? Would they reach the rear doors ?
>Perhaps the slides are truly the only way out in such circumstances even
>though it might not be deemed an emergency.
I would expect that an airport the size of PHX has at least one set of
adjustable stairs.
The ANG across the field certainly would have. Once it had been established
that the aircraft was in no danger – which as I wrote earlier is a judgment
By: greekdude1 - 5th September 2002 at 06:10
RE: America West incident
There was actually an article in Airways magazine about 2 years ago that proclaimed them, “America’s Worst.” I had already experienced them at that stage, so I felt it was very appropriate. They suck for a variety of reasons. I will tell you what I have experienced. Mind you I’ve only flown them 4 times, each time return routing went through Las Vegas. They have 1 daily roundtrip from ONT-LAS. The first time I flew them, upon arriving in LAS roughtly 22:00, the plane sat at the gate for one hour because, “the jetway was inoperative and they couldn’t find an airstairs.” Are you kidding me? A huge airport like LAS and they couldn’t find a lousy airstairs? Out of the 4 return legs, which depart LAS at around 1 a.m. and are scheduled to arrive around 2 a.m., only 1 has actually left on time. The other 2 were delayed AT LEAST 2 to 2.5 hours. 1 was delayed 3. Instead of arriving at my house at 2:30, I’m arriving at like 5 a.m. My work day is history after that. So that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Back in June my parents flew them from ONT to Acapulco via PHX. The flight was the first one out of ONT to PHX at like 8 a.m. Needless to say, the flight was delayed 3 hours. By the time they got to PHX, HP’s only flight to Acapulco had left. They consequently got re-re-routed through Mexico City. As a nice gesture, they put my parents plus the couple that they were with in first class. How good was the service in first class, you ask? They got free booze, and peanuts. NO MEAL! Are you kidding me? My dad asked them why they didn’t get fed. Apparantly America West no longer serves meals on segments less that 4 hours, NOT EVEN IN FIRST CLASS!! On the way back, they also got first class upgrades all the way through to ONT. Did they get fed that time? Nope. That’s ridiculous. I understand airlines are making cut-backs, but this is ludicrous. Now, I know what all you people are going to say, “typical American carrier,” right? I don’t think so. Contrary to popular believe in here, I know I sound like a broken record but, United is a pretty good airline and it is comparable to any airline in Europe except perhaps Virgin Atlantic. I had a flight from ONT to DEN in Feb. which is about a 2 hour flight. Pre 9/11, everybody got fed a meal on that flight, even economy. Post 9/11, economy doesn’t get fed now, but first sure does! I upgraded on this flight, and got fed as a result. America West just flat out sucks.
GD1
By: mongu - 4th September 2002 at 17:36
RE: America West incident
What is so bad about AW?
By: Hand87_5 - 4th September 2002 at 12:05
RE: America West incident
Have you ever heard about maintenance issues at America West?
By: greekdude1 - 1st September 2002 at 21:43
RE: America West incident
Of course an airport the size of PHX has airstairs handy. However, can you use them in this situation? Of course not. The aircraft is at an angle for crying out loud. How are you going to pull up the airstairs with the exit sitting at an angle, and expect people to deplane onto that. That’s what the escape slides are there for. Also, America West was deemed America’s Worst a few years back and it was a very valid name. They are by far the U.S.’s worst airline for a variety of reasons. I’ve flown them myself a few times, and can vouch for that. My parents did recently as well, and had an even worse experience.
GD1
By: keltic - 1st September 2002 at 20:19
RE: America West incident
In america is also called….America Worst. I don´t why.
By: mongu - 30th August 2002 at 19:56
RE: America West incident
In the late 80’s, Manx Airlines went through a spate of collapsed nose gear incidents upon landing. The aircraft were all early version BAe ATP’s.
By: KabirT - 30th August 2002 at 12:48
RE: America West incident
Thanx for the news Hand. gear collapses are rare. Must have landed at a high speed or a low angle of approach.
By: A330Crazy - 30th August 2002 at 10:53
RE: America West incident
Thanx for the news hand 🙂
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August 30, 2002 at 10:38 am