SIGforum
Whoops! Pilot flying vintage jet lowers flaps instead of landing gear

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/8960091364

November 15, 2019, 07:55 AM
4x5
Whoops! Pilot flying vintage jet lowers flaps instead of landing gear
I feel bad for thepilot. He's never going to live this one down.

https://www.ksl.com/article/46...field-no-one-injured

quote:
RICHFIELD — Two 1950s-era fighter jets flew into Richfield on Thursday afternoon and one belly-landed on the runway after a pilot-error, Richfield police said in a Facebook post.

No one was injured in the incident, Richfield Police Chief Trent Lloyd said.

The two pilots were on their way from Idaho to an air show and flew two fighter jets: A MiG and a Navy Fury.

About 4 p.m., as the planes were landing in Richfield for a pitstop, the Fury’s pilot accidentally hit his plane flaps instead of his landing gear, causing the plane to belly-land on the runway.

It took Richfield Fire Department crews several hours to get the plane off the runway because the aircraft’s landing gear is extremely long, Lloyd explained. Crews used a forklift and had to lift the plane high up to access the landing gear.

Crews were able to get the plane up on its wheels just before 8 p.m. and it was being towed off the runway shortly after, Lloyd said.

The runway was expected to reopen by 8:30 p.m.

According to Lloyd, the plane sustained pretty significant damage to its flaps, meaning the pilot’s trip would most likely be postponed. His pit crew had already arrived Thursday night and was expected to continue repairs on the plane Friday.

The pilots were flying from Idaho to an airshow in Nevada or California, Lloyd said.

Contributing: Mehul Asher, KSL










Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ
November 15, 2019, 08:02 AM
RHINOWSO
Nothing like screwing up the landing checklist...
November 15, 2019, 08:05 AM
Andyb
Jet deserved better than that. No excuse for the "pilot"



"Pickin' stones and pullin' teats is a hard way to make a living. But, sure as God's got sandals, it beats fightin' dudes with treasure trails."

"We've been tricked, we've been backstabbed, and we've been quite possibly, bamboozled."
November 15, 2019, 08:13 AM
architect
Wonder if the pilot drives a "low rider?" Or maybe that's his nickname from now on?
November 15, 2019, 08:18 AM
Pipe Smoker
Lowered flaps instead of landing gear? Shouldn’t he have lowered both?



Serious about crackers.
November 15, 2019, 08:18 AM
83v45magna
And not many people have seen an FJ-4. I wonder what all is screwed up besides the obvious. FOD in the intake, those air brakes.

Landing gear should be fine. Roll Eyes



I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. -Ecclesiastes 9:11

...But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by Him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. - Psalm 63:11 [excerpted]
November 15, 2019, 08:22 AM
Perception
Whoops, had a guy at my flight school do that. He was doing touch and gos in a 172RG, and put up the gear instead of flaps. He hit a little bump and the gear came up, and he was on his belly.




"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."
November 15, 2019, 08:28 AM
TigerDore
I know nothing about jets, but it seems like there would have been a lot of friction between the fuselage and the asphalt of the runway, and a lot of sparks. Sitting on that much high octane fuel, it seems like he is very lucky that he didn't burn up.



.
November 15, 2019, 08:44 AM
JWF
Prior to retiring, I worked in construction for a real estate developer. Once, while building a restaurant for a franchisee, he told of tiring of the low altitude alarm on his plane so he disconnected it. Shortly thereafter he put his little single engine on the deck with the gear up. Mangled his prop.


Just another day in paradise.

November 15, 2019, 08:51 AM
AllenInAR
That sucks. Hope the plane isn't trashed. I wonder what kind of MiG was flying with it?


_______________________________

The artist formerly known as AllenInWV
November 15, 2019, 08:53 AM
Rightwire
If it takes full power to taxi, you landed gear up.




Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys

343 - Never Forget

Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat

There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive.
November 15, 2019, 09:22 AM
smithnsig
A little 7075 T6 and some rivets and He’ll be good as new.


-----------------------------------------------------------
TCB all the time...
November 15, 2019, 10:01 AM
arfmel
His wife should tell him no more flying.
November 15, 2019, 10:02 AM
jigray3
Surprised it wasn't the MIG. I was thinking the controls might still labeled in Russian when I read the headline.




"We have a system that increasingly taxes work, and increasingly subsidizes non-work" - Milton Friedman
November 15, 2019, 10:11 AM
navyshooter
Thats the last Flying FJ-4

Hope its repairable




"Blessed is he who when facing his own demise, thinks only of his front sight.”

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem

Montani Semper Liberi
November 15, 2019, 10:21 AM
pbramlett
He made a mistake. Pilots are humans too and sometimes we mess up.

It will fly again.




Regards,

P.
November 15, 2019, 10:25 AM
sigmonkey
quote:
Originally posted by architect:
Wonder if the pilot drives a "low rider?" Or maybe that's his nickname from now on?


"Full Stop"




"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
November 15, 2019, 10:36 AM
83v45magna
quote:
Originally posted by AllenInWV:
That sucks. Hope the plane isn't trashed. I wonder what kind of MiG was flying with it?
An excerpt from the article below says:
"...goes to air shows to promote Naval Aviation, with the Fury performing in aerial dogfights with the other warbirds in MiG Fury’s fleet, a MiG 15bis and a MiG 17F."
November 15, 2019, 10:36 AM
dusty3030
BS on the flaps / gear thing.
He just forgot the gear, period. You don't get them mixed up.
The landing gear control is nowhere near the flaps, and on top of that it is shaped like a freaking landing gear and is on the panel in front of you to be hard to miss on purpose.
November 15, 2019, 10:39 AM
V-Tail
Of my total time, I have more than 3,000 hours flying in, and instructing in, airplanes in the BeechCraft Bonanza family (Bonanza, Debonair, Baron, TravelAir).

This possibility, flaps vs. landing gear has always been a concern to me, and is something that I always emphasized to my clients when instructing.

Here's why: The industry standard is for the landing gear control to be on the pilot side, and the flap control on the co-pilot side.

Very early Bonanzas had a row of "piano key" type controls on the right (co-pilot) side, the landing gear control and the flap control were in close proximity to each other, and very similar.

Subsequent generations of the whole family had the flap control on the pilot side and landing gear control on the co-pilot side, completely opposite of the industry standard.

Around 1984 (or was it 1985?) the Bonanza and Baron (Debonair and TravelAir had been discontinued by this time) received a re-design of pilot / co-pilot controls, and the landing gear control was placed on the pilot side, the flap control on the co-pilot side, now in conformance with industry standards.

Three totally different control layouts over the history of these airplanes. Not a good situation. The worst was for pilots who regularly flew these airplanes that were manufactured just before and just after the 1984 (1985?) change-over. It was always A Good Idea to stop and think about what you were doing. Usually not a problem in normal situations, but add any distraction to the mix, and there is a good potential for trouble.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים