Incident Overview

Date: Sunday 14 May 2023
Aircraft Type: Boeing 747-4R7F
Owner/operator: Cargolux
Registration Number: LX-OCV
Location: Luxembourg-Findel Airport (LUX) – ÿ Luxembourg
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Component Affected: Wheel truck of the RH BLG (Rear Hand Landing Gear).Wheel truck of the RH BLG (Rear Hand Landing Gear).
Category: Accident
A Boeing 747-4R7F aircraft experienced a critical incident during a scheduled freight flight from Luxembourg Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Upon rotation, the Pilot Monitoring system triggered a ?GEAR TILT? and ?GEAR DISAGREE? message, prompting the crew to extend the gear and dump fuel. Following this, the aircraft was vectored to Belgium for fuel dumping, culminating in a wheel truck separation impacting the fuselage. The separation resulted in damage to the aircraft, including a significant impact on the lower aft fuselage, and a potential fire.A Boeing 747-4R7F aircraft experienced a critical incident during a scheduled freight flight from Luxembourg Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Upon rotation, the Pilot Monitoring system triggered a ?GEAR TILT? and ?GEAR DISAGREE? message, prompting the crew to extend the gear and dump fuel. Following this, the aircraft was vectored to Belgium for fuel dumping, culminating in a wheel truck separation impacting the fuselage. The separation resulted in damage to the aircraft, including a significant impact on the lower aft fuselage, and a potential fire.

Description

Cargolux flight CV6857, a Boeing 747-4R7F, was cleared for takeoff on runway 06 for a scheduled freight flight from Luxembourg Airport (ELLX) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (KORD). Shortly after rotation, the Pilot Monitoring (PM) was not able to select gear-up and a ?GEAR TILT? EICAS message was triggered, followed by a ?GEAR DISAGREE? EICAS message. The aircraft proceeded to the DIK holding with the gear extended, where the crew performed the related non-normal checklists, decided to dump fuel and return to ELLX with the gear extended. In order to be cleared to dump fuel over land, the crew declared an emergency, and the aircraft was vectored to an area over Belgium for fuel dumping. At 16:51:30, after dumping approximately 40 tons of fuel at FL100, the aircraft was vectored back to ELLX for an ILS3 approach to RWY 06. At 16:59:04 the aircraft was cleared to land on RWY 06. When the aircraft touched down at 17:00:46, the wheel truck of the RH BLG with part of the inner cylinder attached separated from the aircraft. In this process, the separated gear assembly impacted the lower part of the aft fuselage multiple times and struck the righthand horizontal stabilizer. The crew was not aware of the RH BLG separation until they were informed by the tower that the aircraft had lost part of its landing gear on touchdown with four wheels attached. The crew then immobilized the aircraft on the runway. Airport surveillance video footage showed that after becoming airborne, the RH BLG wheel truck initially rotated to a normal pitch-up position before an over-extension of the strut could be observed. The over-extension was accompanied by a vapor release. During climb out, the RH BLG wheel truck could be observed in a pitch-down position. It was found that the upper bearing carrier had failed, with the bearing and piston ring retention lands sheared off.

Source of Information

https://www.rtl.lu/news/national/a/2062694.html, https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/lx-ocv#3048fc46https://www.rtl.lu/news/national/a/2062694.html, https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/lx-ocv#3048fc46

Primary Cause

Potential mechanical failure of the wheel truck, specifically the separation of the upper bearing carrier, leading to a loss of critical landing gear components and subsequent structural damage.Potential mechanical failure of the wheel truck, specifically the separation of the upper bearing carrier, leading to a loss of critical landing gear components and subsequent structural damage.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *