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Emergency Landing

 
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Emergency landing
 
 
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An emergency landing is an unplanned landing
Landing

Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing" and "touchdown" as well....
 made by an aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
 in response to a crisis which either interferes with the operation of the aircraft or involves sudden medical emergencies necessitating diversion to the nearest airport.

e are several different types of emergency landings for powered aircraft: planned landing or unplanned landing



ng a forced landing, fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of heavier-than-air flight whose Lift is generated not by wing motion relative to the aircraft, but by forward motion through the air....
 glide, while a rotary winged aircraft (helicopter
Helicopter

A helicopter is an aircraft that is Lift and propelled by one or more horizontal plane Helicopter rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades....
) autorotates
Autorotation

In aviation, the word autorotation is applied to operation of fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing aircraft. The word has significantly different meanings in each of these two applications....
 to the ground by trading altitude for airspeed to maintain control.






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Jetblue292landing
An emergency landing is an unplanned landing
Landing

Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing" and "touchdown" as well....
 made by an aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
 in response to a crisis which either interferes with the operation of the aircraft or involves sudden medical emergencies necessitating diversion to the nearest airport.

Types of emergency landings

There are several different types of emergency landings for powered aircraft: planned landing or unplanned landing

  • Forced landing
    Forced Landing

    Forced Landing is a 1941 film starring Richard Arlen, Eva Gabor , J. Carrol Naish, Nils Asther, and Evelyn Brent. The film was directed by Gordon Wiles, and distributed by Paramount Pictures....
    , the aircraft is forced to make a landing due to technical problems, medical problems or weather conditions. Landing as soon as possible is a priority, no matter where. A forced landing may be necessary even if the aircraft is still flyable. This can arise to either facilitate emergency medical or police assistance or get the aircraft on the ground before a major system failure occurs which would force a crash landing or ditch situation.
  • Precautionary landing, may result from a planned landing at a location about which information is limited, from unanticipated changes during the flight, or from abnormal or even emergency situations. The sooner a pilot locates and inspects a potential landing site, the less the chance of additional limitations being imposed by worsening aircraft conditions, deteriorating weather, or other factors.
  • Crash landing, is caused by the failure of or damage to vital systems such as engines, hydraulics, or landing gear, and so a landing must be attempted where a runway is needed but none is available. The pilot is essentially trying to get the aircraft on the ground in a way which minimizes the possibility of injury or death to the people aboard.
  • Ditching, is the same as a crash landing only on water. After the disabled aircraft makes contact with the surface of the water, the aircraft will typically sink if it is not designed to float.


Procedures

During a forced landing, fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of heavier-than-air flight whose Lift is generated not by wing motion relative to the aircraft, but by forward motion through the air....
 glide, while a rotary winged aircraft (helicopter
Helicopter

A helicopter is an aircraft that is Lift and propelled by one or more horizontal plane Helicopter rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades....
) autorotates
Autorotation

In aviation, the word autorotation is applied to operation of fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing aircraft. The word has significantly different meanings in each of these two applications....
 to the ground by trading altitude for airspeed to maintain control. Pilots often practice "simulated forced landings", in which an engine failure is simulated and the pilot has to get the aircraft on the ground safely, by selecting a landing area and then gliding the aircraft at its best gliding speed.

If there is a suitable landing spot within the aircraft's gliding or autorotation distance, an unplanned landing will often result in no injuries or significant damage to the aircraft, since powered aircraft generally use little or no power when they are landing. Light aircraft can often land safely on fields, roads, or gravel river banks (or on the water, if they are float-equipped); but medium and heavy aircraft generally require long, prepared runway surfaces because of their heavier weight and higher landing speeds. Glider pilots
Gliding

Gliding refers to the descending flight of heavier-than-air craft, principally gliders s, hang gliders and paragliders. Technically, gliders, hang-gliders and paragliders are just different styles of glider used to pursue gliding and soaring for recreation, in the same way that sailboats and windsurfers share the lake and the wind....
 routinely land away from their base and so most cross-country pilots are in current practice.

UAV forced landing research


Since 2003, research has been conducted on enabling UAV
Unmanned aerial vehicle

File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....
s to perform a forced landing autonomously.

Notable examples of emergency landings

Large airliner
Airliner

An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers and carrying cargo. Such planes are owned by airlines....
s have multiple engines and redundant systems, so forced landings are extremely rare for them, but some notable ones have occurred. The most famous example is the Gimli Glider
Gimli Glider

The Gimli Glider is the nickname of an Air Canada aircraft which was involved in an infamous aviation incident. On 23 July 1983, a Boeing 767#767-200 jet, Air Canada Flight 143, ran completely out of fuel at 41,000 foot altitude, about halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton, Alberta....
, an Air Canada
Air Canada

Air Canada is Canada's largest airline and flag carrier. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transportation for passengers and cargo to 160 destinations worldwide....
 Boeing 767
Boeing 767

The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twinjet airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the 767 can carry between 181 and 375 passengers, and have a range of 5,200 to 6,590 nautical miles depending on variant and seating configuration....
 that ran out of fuel and glided to a safe landing in Gimli
Gimli, Manitoba

The town and municipality of Gimli are located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada. Located on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, about 75 kilometres north of the provincial capital Winnipeg, Manitoba, Gimli is close to the small towns of Winnipeg Beach,Fraserwood, Arnes, Hnausa, Riverton, and Arborg....
, Manitoba
Manitoba

Manitoba is a prairie provinces in Canada, which has an area of 647,797 square kilometres and a population of 1,207,959 , with more than half located within the Winnipeg Capital Region ....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 on July 23 1983. On June 1982, British Airways Flight 9
British Airways Flight 9

British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, was a scheduled British Airways flight from London Heathrow Airport to Auckland, with stops in Bombay, Madras, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Western Australia, and Melbourne....
, a Boeing 747
Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is a wide-body aircraft commercial airliner, often referred to by the nickname "Jumbo Jet". It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first widebody ever produced....
 en route from Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur , is the largest city of Malaysia. The city proper, making up an area of , has an estimated population of 1.6 million in 2006. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million....
 to Perth
Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the List of Australian capital cities and largest city of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Western Australia. With a population of 1,554,769 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
 lost power in all four engines, three of which subsequently recovered, eventually diverting to Jakarta
Jakarta

Jakarta is the Capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a List of urban areas by population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia, Dutch East Indies , and Djakarta ....
. On April 28, 1988, Aloha Airlines Flight 243
Aloha Airlines Flight 243

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Aloha Airlines Boeing 737#737-200 flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On 28 April 1988, the aircraft suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, but was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui....
 experienced an explosive decompression
Explosive decompression

Uncontrolled decompression refers to an unexpected drop in the pressure of a sealed system. Where the speed of the decompression occurs faster than air can escape from the lungs, this is known as explosive decompression , and is associated with explosion violence....
 mid-flight, forcing an emergency landing at the Kahului Airport
Kahului Airport

Kahului Airport is a regional airport in the Hawaii, located 3 miles east of Kahului, Hawaii in Maui County on the island of Maui near Haleakala....
 with only one casualty, flight attendant Clarabell "C.B." Lansing. More recently, Air Transat Flight 236
Air Transat Flight 236

Air Transat Flight 236 was an Air Transat route between Toronto, Canada and Lisbon, Portugal flown by Captain Robert Pich? and First Officer Dirk DeJager....
 ran out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
 on August 24 2001 and made a successful forced landing in the Azores
Azores

The Azores is a Portugal archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km from Lisbon and about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America....
.

A less successful crash landing involved Southern Airways Flight 242
Southern Airways Flight 242

Southern Airways Flight 242 was a Douglas DC-9 jet, registered N1335U, that executed a emergency landing on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, United States after suffering hail damage and losing power on both engines in a severe thunderstorm on April 4, 1977....
 on April 4 1977. The DC-9 lost both of its engines due to hail and heavy rain in a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm

File:FoggDam-NT.jpgA thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its effect: thunder....
 and, unable to glide to an airport, made a forced landing on a highway near New Hope, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The plane made a hard landing and was still carrying a large amount of fuel, so it burst into flames, killing the majority of the passengers and several people on the ground.

Airliners frequently make emergency landings, and almost all of them are uneventful. However because of their inherent uncertain nature, they can quickly become crash landings or worse. Some notable instances include Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111

Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland....
, which crashed near Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is a Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada....
, Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 on September 2 1998 while dumping fuel in preparation for a precautionary landing due to fire; United Airlines Flight 232
United Airlines Flight 232

United Airlines Flight 232 was a scheduled flight operated by United Airlines between Denver and Philadelphia via Chicago. On 19 July 1989, the Douglas DC-10 suffered an uncontained failure of its number 2 jet engine which destroyed all three of the aircraft's hydraulic systems....
, which broke up while landing at Sioux City
Sioux City, Iowa

Sioux City is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa and Woodbury County, Iowa counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,013 at the 2000 United States Census; census estimates showed a slight decline to 83,262 by 2006....
, Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
, U.S.A. on July 19 1989; and Air Canada Flight 797
Air Canada Flight 797

Air Canada Flight 797 was a scheduled trans-border flight that flew on a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas-Toronto-Montreal route. On , the aircraft developed an in-flight fire behind the washroom that spread between the outer skin and the inner decor panels, filling the plane with noxious, toxic smoke....
, which burned after landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is located in Hebron, Kentucky, unincorporated area Boone County, Kentucky, United States and serves the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky metropolitan area....
 on June 2 1983 after a fire started in the cabin.

On January 17 2008, British Airways Flight 38
British Airways Flight 38

British Airways Flight 38 was a scheduled flight from Beijing Capital International Airport which crash landed just short of the runway at its destination, London Heathrow Airport, London, on 17 January 2008 after an flight....
, a Boeing 777
Boeing 777

The Boeing 777 is a long-range, Wide-body aircraft twin-engine airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The world's largest twinjet and commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven", the aircraft can carry between 283 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration, and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles ....
 crashed while attempting to land at London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the largest and Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic airport in the United Kingdom....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. The plane came down too early and passed just a few hundred feet over the houses before the runway. The plane crash landed and skidded, eventually stopping just on the runway, creating a large, visible skid mark for some 400m before the runway. Thirteen people sustained minor injuries as the plane collapsed after the front landing gear came off.

Emergency water landings