Original subtitles

Gear down.

The pilots of Eagle Airways Flight 2300

can't lower the landing gear.

That's not good.

That is not good.

When you see a pilot looking through a manual,

you've got to think there's something seriously wrong here.

We're gonna have to land wheels up.

Low on fuel, they have no choice

but to attempt to land at New Zealand's Woodbourne Airport.

They were faced with a situation that was not resolvable.

A wheels-up landing, it is not an everyday occurrence.

I did fear for my life.

When investigators look into the cause

of the failure, they uncover a widespread problem.

What's that bring us to?

Twelve developing cracks, plus the two we already knew about.

We had a significant systemic issue

not just with Air New Zealand but also worldwide.

It's early morning at Timaru Airport

on New Zealand's South Island.

The pilots of Eagle Airways Flight 2300

are completing their pre-flight checks.

Hi. Good morning. You okay?

Fifteen passengers board the plane

ahead of a scheduled 7:10 a.m. departure.

Among them is 50-year-old businessman, Lyle Richards.

I was a reasonably frequent flier, so, um, I'd actually

done that flight just the week before.

Eagle Airways is a regional airline,

a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.

At the controls is 42-year-old Captain Myles Gousmett.

He's been with Eagle Airways for nearly 12 years.

Cabin door closed.

The 32-year-old first officer is the pilot monitoring today.

He joined Eagle Airways last year.

About that time.

Ready when you are.

Let's roll out.

Eagle 300 is taxiing for departure to Wellington.

At 7:10 a.m., Flight 2300 makes its way to the runway.

Airspeed's alive... 80 knots.

The pilots are flying a Beechcraft 1900-D.

It's a low-wing twin-engine turboprop airplane capable

of carrying 19 passengers and a crew of 2.

Positive rate. Gear up.

Gear up.

It's a one-hour flight from Timaru to Wellington on New Zealand's North Island.

Flight 2300 levels off at 21,000 feet.

The passengers settle in for the short flight.

I was flying up for work.

I was manager of, of a barbeque factory, and, um,

we were opening a new branch, just north of Wellington.

Can you get me the ATIS for Wellington?

I'm guarding Comm 1 while you're off.

The pilots check on the weather in Wellington.

Wellington Airport, winds, 2-1-0 at 10,

visibility 20 reducing to 10 in rain showers.

Sky conditions...

Wellington's not as windy as normal.

Sounds wet, though, with a low cloud ceiling.

- Yeah. - And Woodbourne?

Woodbourne Airport, winds 2-6-0 at 8,

visibility 50, sky conditions clear.

Woodbourne, on the other hand, looks very nice.

Not a cloud in the sky.

We're gonna have a cracking day at home for us

when we get there.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we've begun our descent into the Wellington area.

At this time, please ensure your seatbelts

are securely fastened, your tray tables are stowed,

and any carry-on items are placed under the seat in front of you.

I was feeling great.

I knew I had a fairly long three or four days ahead of me

setting up this new branch, but I was looking forward to it.

At 8:12 a.m., the pilots begin their approach

to Wellington Airport.

Approaching intercept for ILS Runway 1-6. Props 15-50.

- Props set. - Flaps 17.

Flaps 17.

Intercepting the glide slope. Gear down.

Speed, 170 knots. Gear down.

The pilots' routine approach takes

an unexpected turn.

That's not good.

That is not good.

The plane's landing gear doesn't extend.

Let's discontinue the approach.

Wellington control, Eagle 3-0-0.

Go ahead, Eagle 3-0-0.

Wellington, missed approach, maintaining 3,000 feet.

We've got a landing gear problem.

Eagle 3-0-0, uh, cleared to maintain 3,000 feet,

fly heading 2-7-0.

2-7-0, Eagle 3-0-0.

Cycle it back up. Give it another go.

The pilots troubleshoot the problem.

Nothing.

Let's clean it up. Flaps up.

Eagle 3-0-0, request you climb to 6,000 feet on heading 2-7-0

over the Cook Strait and away from traffic.

In the cabin, passengers get

the first indication that something is wrong.

It was just a normal flight.

Uh, we were coming into land but then all of a sudden

it was just full power and we were heading back up

into the sky.

Flight 2300 ascends to a higher altitude

where there's less traffic.

Let's try it again.

Landing gear down.

Nothing.

Okay, let's check the electrical system.

Okay, landing gear relay circuit breaker.

Hasn't popped.

No breakers have popped. Electricals seem fine.

The pilots have another option.

We're gonna have to extend the gear manually.

And we don't want to continue down into the weather

in Wellington with this problem.

Wellington has traffic, low cloud and showers.

It's an ILS approach.

Before attempting to manually extend

the landing gear, the pilots consider diverting

to a different airport.

Woodbourne is wide open,

clear skies, and we can stay visual.

Exactly. And our engineering base is there.

We divert to Woodbourne?

Agree. Woodbourne Control, we've got a landing gear issue.

Requesting descent to Woodbourne.

We have to do a manual extension of the gear.

Requesting a local standby.

I'll let the passengers what's going on.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain.

We've encountered an issue with the undercarriage

of the aircraft.

Our plan is to divert to Woodbourne

in the Blenheim area to hold.

We plan to do a manual landing gear extension.

We'll keep you updated, but we don't anticipate any problems.

You sort of go, okay, there's a problem with the landing gear,

sort of, you know, I wonder how bad that's going to be.

Flight 2300 descends into clear skies.

Okay, let's try manual landing gear extension.

You have control.

I have control.

The captain reviews the procedure for a manual drop.

I leaned into the aisle and, and, and looked in...

into the cockpit and I see that the pilot was busy

thumbing through what looked like a manual.

When you see a pilot looking through a manual,

you've got to think:

"hey, there's gotta be something seriously wrong here".

Landing gear control lever. Confirm down.

Alternative extension handle.

Unstow and pump.

Pump handle up and down until three green gear-down

annunciators are illuminated.

Nothing...

Attempts to lower Flight 2300's landing gear

using both the normal and manual systems have failed.

Yeah, passengers might be wondering what's going on.

I'll have a word.

Hey folks, we've got a bit of a problem

with the landing gear that we're still trying to troubleshoot.

Nothing to be alarmed about, but we're going to circle

the area for a bit while we sort it out.

We'll keep you posted. Thank you.

When I heard that, I was thinking: "well, we could be

in real trouble here".

I thought of my wife and, and my kids,

and then I started thinking about all the possible scenarios

of, of what could happen.

As the pilots continue trying to drop

the landing gear, they know they can only troubleshoot

for so long.

They're down to just over an hour's worth of fuel.

Let's give Air Operations a call.

Blenheim Base, Eagle 3-0-0.

Eagle 3-0-0, this is AOC.

We've got a problem with the landing gear.

Have tried normal extension several times.

Have tried manual extension. We're still getting nothing.

Eagle 3-0-0, we'll get an engineer

to help you right away.

After circling for 15 minutes, Flight 2300

gets an update from Air Operations.

Eagle 3-0-0, try isolating electrical power

to the landing gear motor.

We got nothing.

Don't know why that's not working.

We gotta keep digging deeper.

Try turning all the power off. Everything.

If the pilots isolate all the electrical

components and the landing gear extends,

it will confirm that the problem is in the electrical system...

...but the outcome is no different.

Those wheels should have come down by now.

- Still nothing. - Nothing.

Only forty-five minutes of fuel left.

We're gonna have to land wheels-up.

Agreed.

They're forced to attempt one of aviation's

most challenging landings.

A wheels-up landing is, is not an everyday occurrence.

They were faced with a situation

that was not resolvable in flight.

Have fire and ambulance ready, thank you.

Now the pilots update the Woodbourne controller

of their situation.

Woodbourne tower, Eagle 3-0-0.

We're still unable to lower our landing gear.

Declare full emergency at Woodbourne.

Confirming your landing gear issue, Eagle 3-0-0.

Full emergency response has already been activated.

Hey, everyone.

Unfortunately, we're unable to lower the landing gear.

So we're going to have to land wheels-up.

Obviously, the tension went right up.

A... a crash landing is, is everybody's worst fear.

Now the landing's gonna be harder than usual

and there's going to be quite a bit of noise.

So make sure your seatbelts are secure and that you're ready

to take the brace position when I say.

Take a close look at the safety card.

Everybody simultaneously grabbed that information card

that nobody ever reads.

Um, all of a sudden, it becomes so important

that we actually grabbed it and, and everybody read it.

Ma'am, why don't we go ahead and move you, okay? Thank you.

The first officer moves a pregnant woman away

from her seat alongside the emergency exit.

Sir? Are you good to open the emergency exit door

when we land? - Uh, yeah.

Excellent. Thank you.

Once the plane has stopped, pull the red handle towards you

and push the door out of the plane.

Jump out and get as far from the plane as possible.

The adrenalin level was really starting to get right up there.

Follow this man out, and that'll be that. OK?

- Okay, got it. - Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

I did fear for my life, confronted with what

was going to potentially happen.

Okay, let's review the procedure for gear-up landing.

"Crew: Brief for emergency landing responsibilities.

Runway: Land on longest runway possible."

The key to a safe wheels-up landing is timing.

After 45 minutes of circling,

the fuel light reaches the right level.

Now's the time.

Woodbourne Tower, Eagle 3-0-0.

Please be advised we need to make a wheels-up landing.

Roger, Eagle 3-0-0, you are cleared to land runway 2-4.

The crew prepares for an emergency landing.

Let's get rid of everything electrical that we don't need.

EFIS screen power off on my side.

Landing gear circuit breaker. Pull.

They shut down all non-essential

electrical systems to prevent a short circuit

or potential fire.

They also pull the landing gear circuit breaker

to prevent an uncommanded gear deployment before

or during touchdown.

In the cabin, tensions run high.

This was gonna happen and it, and it was happening now

sort of thing, so, um, yeah, things were getting real.

Woodbourne tower, Eagle 3-0-0, are we clear to land?

Cleared to land runway 2-4, emergency services are in place.

Anything we missed?

Nope.

OK then. Here we go.

Now at just 500 feet, the pilots

of Flight 2300 lines up with the runway.

The only difference with this landing

is we're gonna be a bit lower when we touch down.

Almost two hours after departure from Timaru,

Flight 2300 is made ready to land without its landing gear.

OK, everyone, brace for landing now.

As we were just about to touch down, you know,

and I was looking out the window, I could see

the grass getting closer and closer. It was dead quiet.

You could hear a pin drop.

Eagle Airways Flight 2300 is seconds

from landing at New Zealand's Woodbourne Airport

without the landing gear deployed.

If the plane doesn't come in completely levelled,

there's a risk a wing could hit the runway and break off.

It was just this loud rumble screeching sound as,

as we slid down the runway.

And it seemed to slide for, for ages.

Now the captain needs to bring the plane

to a full stop to avoid sliding off the runway.

If it goes into the grass, it can dig into the ground

and cause the plane to flip.

Nearly 15 seconds after the emergency landing,

Flight 2300 has come to a stop.

I sat there and sort of looked around and thought, "well, yes

we're, we're right way up, there's no smoke,

there's no fire, and all my limbs are still attached".

Evacuate.

But the passengers and crew aren't

out of danger yet.

The risk of fire means evacuation is urgent.

I opened the hatch and threw the hatch outwards,

and there was a loud noise and a, and a swishing sound,

which gave me a, a huge fright because I didn't know

what it was. As it turned out, it was the fire brigade

that sprayed the plane with, with foam.

All fifteen passengers and the pilots

À make it off safely.

When I got to the terminal, that's when the shock

really set in for me. You know I was... I was shaking.

But it was a huge relief that, that I managed to,

to ring my wife and, and tell her that I was okay.

A disaster has been averted, with all 17 people walking away unharmed.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission,

or TAIC, leads the investigation into Flight 2300's

landing gear failure.

The first question, of course, was why?

The aircraft had been in service with the operator

for about five years at that stage.

How could this happen?

The aircraft had pretty good reliability up till then.

What could have caused the landing gear to fail?

That could have gone a lot worse.

Got those reports. Let's take a look.

Investigators review the plane's maintenance history.

Yeah, it looks like it was maintained on schedule.

Hm.

It even had a maintenance review just six days

before the accident. - Um-hm.

Something else gets their attention.

There was a landing gear failure back in January.

Three weeks later, a hydraulic fluid leak was found under

the left wing.

Could that be what happened here?

The hydraulic fluid is the lifeblood

of the landing gear system and without it,

you'd be unable to retract or extend the landing gear.

The plane is lifted by crane and towed

to a hangar for examination.

Investigators check the hydraulic fluid reservoir.

It's dry. There's no hydraulic fluid in the reservoir.

On initial examination of the aircraft,

we identified that the hydraulic reservoir was empty,

so then that raised two questions: Where did it go?

And why did it go?

So when did it leak? Before or after takeoff?

Investigators request photos from the tarmac

at Timaru Airport, where Eagle Airways Flight 2300

was parked the night before departure.

They're looking for signs of leaked hydraulic fluid

needed for lowering the landing gear.

There's no signs of fluid on the ground.

That means the leak occurred in flight.

But if the plane lost hydraulic fluid in flight,

wouldn't the pilots have received a warning?

Well, they should have.

The Beech 19-hundred-D has a system to warn the pilots

if the hydraulic fluid reservoir is running low.

If hydraulic fluid reaches a critically low level,

a yellow warning light on the cockpit indicator panel

would light up.

Investigators meet with the captain to see if he had

any indication that the hydraulic fluid was low.

You flew into Timaru the night before.

- Uh-Uh. - Any problems with the plane?

No, nothing.

What about your pre-flight checks morning of?

Anything come up?

Uh, no. Uh, Richie walked around the outside,

and we did the internal inspection.

Everything was tip-top.

How about the hydraulic fluid low annunciator system?

As part of their pre-flight inspection,

pilots test that the low hydraulic fluid warning system

is operational.

If it is working, the light turns on after

a four-second delay.

It checked out fine.

Did the light ever come on after that?

No, it stayed dark.

We knew that the hydraulic reservoir was empty

and so the warning light should have illuminated,

but it didn't.

The Captain said the low hydraulic fluid warning light

was working before takeoff.

And had it been functioning properly, that would have helped

the pilots understand why the landing gear didn't lower.

We knew the gear wouldn't lower and secondly,

we knew that the reservoir was, was empty of fluid.

So we needed to find out why that fluid had leaked from

the system.

Investigators search for the source of the leak

that caused the failure of Flight 2300's landing gear.

We're ready.

They add a small amount of hydraulic fluid

to the system and use the manual lowering system

to check for leaks.

Okay, stop. We've got a leak in the right main landing gear.

It looks like it's coming from the actuator.

When pilots activate the plane's landing gear,

hydraulic fluid is pushed from a reservoir

to landing gear actuators that extend the gear

to their down and locked position.

In the course of the investigation and during

testing if you observe hydraulic fluid leaking

from the actuator, you're getting closer to pinpointing

the source of the leak.

They examine the actuator to determine

if it was defective.

There's a crack in the end cap.

To confirm our theory about the failed actuator

we replaced the actuator, and we then replenished

the oil system and completed several gear extensions and,

uh, retractions, and this confirmed that the problem

was with that failed actuator.

The failed actuator is sent to the National

Transportation Safety Board's lab in the United States

for metallurgical examination.

We did that because the Beech 1900

was manufactured in the United States

as well as the actuator.

And so they had access to both those organizations

to support that examination.

While they wait for the metallurgical results,

the remainder of Eagle Airways' fleet is checked

for failed actuators.

It was important that we identified whether

this was a single isolated occurrence

or there was a wider systemic issue.

No other cracks are found.

Most likely, this was an isolated occurrence

But just three months after the failure

of Flight 2300's landing gear, the crew of another

Beechcraft 19-hundred-D observes a pooling of hydraulic

fluid near the right main landing gear.

That plane's actuator is removed

and a closer examination reveals a crack

in the same location as Flight 2300.

This now raised concerns about there being a systemic issue

and that the problem could actually be fleet-wide.

While the latest cracked actuator is also sent

for metallurgical testing, Eagle Airways performs

a more rigorous test on its fleet.

Ultrasonic testing is a method of non-destructively testing

a component using high-frequency sound waves.

These sound waves can penetrate the material and look for cracks

that are at the surface and the subsurface of the material.

The ultrasonic testing reveals

a serious problem.

Okay, thank you.

That was another one.

What's that bring us to?

Twelve now developing cracks.

Plus, the two we already knew about.

Fourteen cracked actuators.

Cracks were all in the same location?

Yeah, all actuator end caps.

The identification of a further 12 possible failed

actuators indicated we had a, quite a serious significant

systemic issue across the fleet not just within New Zealand,

but also worldwide.

Metallurgy testing results are in.

What caused the actuators on two

Eagle Airways' planes to crack and leak hydraulic fluid?

The actuators were subject to two independent metallurgy

examinations, one by the NTSB and one by ourselves.

Together we hoped to identify the origin of these cracks

and get a better understanding of how long it took to propagate

to the point of failure.

Flight 2300's cracked actuator is on the left.

The second one that was discovered three months later

is on the right.

The metallurgical testing reveals that the cracks

formed at the inside corner of the actuators' end caps.

These machining marks here and here,

that's where most of the cracks in the actuators originated.

These actuators appear to have been made

from one single piece of metal.

In order to shape that piece of metal into the end cap,

there are tools that are used to get the shape that you want.

These tools can leave behind tooling marks or sometimes

referred to as machine marks.

The machining marks on their own aren't a concern.

But investigators discover something else

about the actuator end caps.

It looks like the inside of the end caps were anodized.

Anodizing is the process of submerging

metal in an electrolyte bath and applying an electrical current.

The purpose of anodizing

is to make a hardened outside layer

which increases the wear durability of that component.

But it also makes it more brittle and therefore

susceptible to cracking.

All of these things found in the metallurgical examination

are small weaknesses but when combined together,

made the end cap more prone to fatigue cracking.

Detailed analysis on the second cracked actuator

shows that after the initial crack formed,

it took almost 12,000 cycles to reach a critical size and fail.

Well, just how many cycles

were these things designed to withstand?

I'll request the original specs.

Investigators narrow their focus

on the Specification Control Drawing or SCD

for the planes involved.

A specification control drawing is a document

that outlines the operating parameters of the component,

such as how many cycles it's expected to last,

what is the load that this actuator is expected to experience.

These actuators are endurance tested at 50,000 cycles.

Cycles refer to the number of complete

landing gear extensions and retractions.

How many cycles did the cracked actuators have?

On average 18,000 cycles.

Less than half what they were designed to endure.

So is this a problem with the original design,

or the way it was made?

In reviewing the metallurgical examination, we needed to

identify whether the component was actually manufactured

in accordance with the original uh, design requirements.

Investigators visit the manufacturer

of the actuators.

So how were these actuators designed?

Well, we followed the SCD we were provided.

So the actuators should be able to sustain 50,000 cycles?

Yeah. But, uh, 10 years ago, we received three actuators

for overhaul.

Investigators learn these actuators had cracks,

which led to a redesign.

If you fixed the design of the actuator back in '97,

then why are we seeing cracks 10 years later?

Um, well, uh, these cracks formed in the opposite end.

There were concerns about the design

the manufacturer had given them.

The actuator manufacturer opined that the information

provided by Beech was inadequate.

The cycles, the loads, and the pressures experienced

by these actuators was not what Beech was telling them.

Did you share your concerns with the manufacturer?

Yes. They said they'd do a flight test.

The purpose of the flight test

was to examine the operational loads on the actuator.

So the flight test, what did it tell you?

The test showed that the actuator end cap

didn't experience just one pressure peak per cycle, but two.

This meant that each extension and retraction cycle

subjected the actuator to twice the loading as to what

it was designed for.

So if you're expecting 50,000 cycles on the actuator,

now it can only do 25,000 cycles.

Did you make any changes as a result of this?

No, we didn't get the results until after the accident.

Unfortunately, the lack of communication

between an aircraft manufacturer and the component manufacturers,

while rare, is not uncommon.

Investigators now understand that a combination

of factors led to the landing gear failure on Flight 2300.

Airspeed's alive. 80 knots.

After thousands of landing gear extensions

and retractions over thousands of flights,

the landing gear actuators were reaching the end of their life

twice as fast as expected.

Positive rate, gear up.

Gear up.

Machining marks on the actuator's end cap

along with metallurgical weaknesses led to

fatigue cracking, ultimately causing the end cap to fail.

That actuator wasn't built to withstand the stresses

put on it. I mean, it was destined to fail

on those pilots.

What I want to know is, how did they pull off

such a remarkable landing?

into the pilots' actionsatk

on Eagle Airways Flight 2300 to see how they carried out

the successful emergency landing.

When the landing gear didn't drop, they come up with a plan.

Let's discontinue the approach.

They immediately discontinued the approach, good.

So, then they attempt some troubleshooting from 6,000 feet.

When that doesn't work, they evaluate their options.

Woodbourne is wide open.

Clear skies and we can stay visual.

Smart move. They knew there were better conditions

for them to keep trying to solve the problem and prepare

for an emergency landing.

Then they do exactly what they're supposed to do.

They attempt a manual extension of the landing gear.

Pump handle up and down

until three green gear-down annunciators are illuminated.

Okay, good. They followed the QRH for a manual drop.

Sounds like they kept the passengers updated

throughout as well.

Hey folks, we've got a bit of a problem

with the landing gear that we're still trying to troubleshoot.

Seeing how calm and collected the pilots were,

their training had just obviously kicked in

because they knew exactly what they were doing.

Um, our, our lives were in their hands,

and, and they came through for us.

They were calm, didn't cause a panic. Excellent.

Yeah, and when they noticed the fuel getting low,

they make the call for a wheels-up landing.

Right, and then they prepare the plane to reduce the risk on touchdown.

Landing gear circuit breaker, pull.

Okay everyone, brace for landing now.

After they make contact with the runway,

they carefully controlled the aircraft.

The pilots did an amazing job. It was obviously anything

but routine. It was a very serious situation,

but they handled it like total pros.

We were just so lucky that day.

The plane didn't catch fire or t didn't flip upside down.

It didn't break apart.

Luck was very much on our side.

They did everything right.

No injuries, minimal damage to the plane.

They saved the day.

The pilots on this flight did an outstanding job.

The fact that they were able to do a wheels-up landing,

maintain control of the aircraft on the runway is exemplary.

As a result of the investigation

into the failure of Flight 2300's landing gear,

safety checks are instituted to ensure that

the hydraulic fluid warning system is tested,

and that these tests include the fluid sensor.

A service bulletin mandates the immediate inspection

of Beechcraft actuators, and the implementation

of a thorough maintenance regime until the actuator

is redesigned.

Until then, Eagle Airways continues ultrasonic testing

of the actuators every 1,000 cycles, with the actuators

being replaced after 10,000 cycles.

Aviation was made safer as a result

of this investigation because the output

was an inspection regime that ensured a failure like this

could not occur again.

Subtitling: difuze