Delta B712 at Charlotte on Jun 28th 2023, landed with nose gear not extended

Last Update: July 11, 2023 / 20:31:30 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Delta Airlines N955AT, Boeing 717-200 — Delta Airlines N955AT, Boeing 717-200 (Photo credit: formulanone / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 28, 2023

Classification
Accident

Airline
Delta Airlines

Flight number
DL-1092

Departure
Atlanta, United States

Destination
Charlotte, United States

Aircraft Registration
N955AT

Aircraft Type
Boeing 717-200

ICAO Type Designator
B712

Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Charlotte

Airport ICAO Code
KCLT

A Delta Airlines Boeing 717-200, registration N955AT performing flight DL-1092 from Atlanta,GA to Charlotte,NC (USA) with 104 people on board, was on approach to Charlotte's runway 36L when the crew initiated a go around due to a unsafe nose gear indication, climbed to 4000 feet and entered a hold to work the checklists. After working the checklists the crew declared emergency and requested emergency services on stand by. The aircraft performed a low approach to runway 36L, positioned for another approach to runway 36L and landed without nose gear extended at 08:54L (12:54Z) about 12 minutes after the second go around and about 30 minutes after the first go around. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway on its main gear and the nose. There were no injuries.

The airline reported the aircraft landed with the nose gear in its up position. The passengers deplaned onto the runway and were bussed to the terminal. There were 96 passengers and 5 crew on board (the crew reported 104 souls on board).

On Jun 28th 2023 18:13Z the NTSB announced they are investigating the occurrence stating: "NTSB investigating the runway landing of a Boeing 712 without the nose gear extended at Charlotte/Douglas International airport in Charlotte, North Carolina."

On Jul 11th 2023 the NTSB released their preliminary report writing:

The flight crew reported that when the airplane was about 2,000 ft above ground level (AGL), the first officer (FO) lowered the landing gear handle and observed the nose wheel unsafe condition light illuminate. The unsafe condition was confirmed in the configuration page of the electronic instrument system (EIS). A go-around was initiated to trouble shoot and complete the applicable checklists. A manual gear extension was attempted without success.

Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta flight control was notified via Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), an emergency was declared with air traffic control (ATC) and the flight proceeded inbound on the ILS 36L approach. As the airplane approached 300 ft AGL, ATC notified the flight crew that the nose wheel was not visible, and a second go-around was initiated. In an effort to lower the nose wheel, multiple normal and manual landing gear extension attempts were made to no avail and the decision was made to proceed with the landing.

The airplane touched down about 1,400 ft from the runway’s threshold and the nose was lowered onto the runway at about 80 knots. The airplane stopped just before taxiway W7 and CLT airport aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) sprayed the nose wheel area with water.

The flight crew conducted the shutdown and evacuation checklists. After the fire chief verified that the area was safe, an evacuation was performed through the two forward entry doors with the passengers utilizing emergency slides.

A postaccident examination of the nose landing gear system revealed a fractured upper lock link. Due to the fractured upper lock link, the lower lock link was free to swing down to a vertical position and made contact with the nose landing gear assembly and thereby restricted its movement.

Metars:
KCLT 281452Z 00000KT 7SM CLR 28/17 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP157 T02830167 50009=
KCLT 281352Z VRB05KT 7SM CLR 27/17 A2998 RMK AO2 SLP157 T02670172=
KCLT 281252Z 01005KT 7SM CLR 25/17 A2997 RMK AO2 SLP153 T02500172=
KCLT 281152Z 36005KT 7SM CLR 22/17 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP147 T02220167 10222 20189 51018=
KCLT 281052Z 33004KT 7SM CLR 20/16 A2994 RMK AO2 SLP143 T02000161=
KCLT 280952Z 33005KT 7SM CLR 19/16 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP134 T01940161=
KCLT 280852Z 00000KT 8SM CLR 19/16 A2990 RMK AO2 SLP129 T01940156 55003=

Related NOTAM:
!CLT 06/252 CLT RWY 18R/36L CLSD 2306281315-2306291700