Terrifying moment landing gear snaps off 747 jumbo jet and bounces down the runway in white-knuckle emergency landing
THIS is the terrifying moment a jumbo jet’s landing gear snaps off and bounces down the runway during a hair-raising emergency landing.
The Boeing 747 took off bound for Chicago but the wheels failed to retract, forcing the pilots to turn back to Luxembourg.
The airline operator, Cargolux, described yesterday’s drama as “a significant incident”.
Footage shows the cargo jet making a heavy landing in a cloud of smoke.
Suddenly the rear right wheel bogey detaches from the plane and cartwheels through the air.
Moments later, one of the four wheel sets detaches and balloons into the air behind the aircraft.
The video pans away from the plane and focuses on the now detached wheels bouncing along the grass.
Images show the damaged mechanism and damage caused to the plane’s undercarriage, along with the runway wheels on the grass besides the runway strip.
Fire crews sprung into action but incredibly no one was hurt and the pilots managed to bring the plane to a safe stop.
The airline said: “Cargolux would like to confirm that one of its aircraft, B747-400F bearing registration mark LX-OCV, suffered a significant landing incident at Luxembourg airport on Sunday evening at 18:52.
“The aircraft was unable to retract its landing gear on take-off from Luxembourg.
“As a result, it was forced to safely dump fuel in order to return to land at the airport. On its landing roll its right body landing gear detached from the aircraft.
“The aircraft however came to a controlled stop and was attended to by the emergency services.
“No persons on board nor on the ground suffered any injuries.
“The relevant authorities have been informed of the incident. The aircraft remains on the runway and recovery efforts are underway.”
Last month another jumbo operated by Cargolux was damaged in awhite-knuckle landing at Luxembourg’s Findel Airport.
The plane tilted over on its failed initial landing attempt, heavily scraping one engine before looping around to attempt a second landing.
This comes after a man was rushed to hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries in April, after an aircraft crashed shortly after take-off.
And a YouTuber who filmed himself deliberately crashing a plane for clicks is now facing up to 20 years in prison.