A short flight from Fort Hood to T.S.T.C
ended with an
extraordinary
turn of events, that will never be forgotten.
The aircraft's
landing gear retracted on landing, causing
minor damage to
the airframe, the loss of an engine, and
eventually the
demise of the aircraft.
As the main gear struck the ground, the
aircraft was in
perfect position
for landing. The nose of the aircraft was
high, so it could
be eased, gently to the ground. The nose was
coming down
slowly, but when it made contact with the
concrete, it
retracted back into the chin of the aircraft.
This caused the
nose to fall to the ground.
This, in turn, caused scrapes on the nose
and wings. The
propeller blades
bent when they came in contact with the
ground, along
with the wingtips. Even after all that, the
aircraft was
still flyable, because on an aircraft of its'
size, that kind
of damage is considered minor.
Emergency vehicles rushed out to help the
pilots out of
the aircraft,
when a small fire started in the right engine.
While the fireman
was putting out the fire, the truck was
slowly moving
forward. Subsequently, the truck driver left the
truck in gear. It
bumped into the aircraft's engine, and kept
on going. Before
the driver could stop the truck, it knocked
the engine off of
the aircraft. Ironicly the plane was more
expensive to
repair, than to buy a new aircraft, after that.
So the aircraft
was laid to rest in a spare parts yard.
This proves that small things, that you
think will turn
out alright, can
have disastrous results. The aircraft could
have been
repaired, before the firetruck knocked off the engine.
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