[Hogmann]

Have you ever heard of a landing gear collapse that wasn't first precipitated by a gear unsafe warning or very hard touchdown?
We have now!

Originally Posted by akham ↗

We have now[/url]

I found this paragraph at the end pretty interesting. I haven't heard any mention of a cockpit voice recorder but it seems unknown whether there was a landing gear unsafe indication or not just that the crew never mentioned they we're aware of a problem.

The flight crew did not make any radio calls indicating they were aware that the landing gear may notbe operating correctly. The landing gear control panel is located on the right side of the centerinstrument panel. It features three red UNSAFE lights, three green LOCKED DOWN lights, and thelanding gear selector switch. A down-and-locked switch on each actuator housing illuminates thecorresponding green LOCKED DOWN light when the gear is fully deployed. If the actuator is not locked,the light remains off. Each main gear’s red UNSAFE light is triggered by a microswitch on the inboardgear door; the light shows when the door is open and turns off when the door closes


Did they actually verify that the landing gear was down and indicating three green?
When teaching in the simulator I've given crews landing gear malfunctions and on more than one occasion I have had pilots call "landing gear down and three green" when in fact it was not or the opposite during the climb checklist they failed to notice that the landing gear has not retracted.

The report fails to mention whether it would be possible or not that the landing gear indicates safe when it is not. I imagine this will come out in the full report.

[Hogmann]

Originally Posted by akham ↗

And the seriously injured FO was trapped in the cockpit for more than 2 hours!

Next to the dead captain.

[William May]

Well, because the actuator was fully extended, it would have shown a green for that side, so they likely DID have 3 greens. They wouldn't have had any reds if the gear doors were closed, which in the film from the golf course, it looks like they were. So it would have appeared to be everything OK for landing. Also, there wouldn't have been an indication in the flight handling, because the gear was still near position, so they wouldn't have felt anything other than normal drag and wind noise from both mains being down. Kind of a sneaky failure. If the strut had actually departed the aircraft, they would have had a sudden big yaw to the right, with only the r/h gear extended and draggy.

[akham]

NTSB Issues Urgent Recommendation on Learjet Landing Gear

​​Main landing gear could separate on landing

WASHINGTON (Oct. 29, 2025) – The National Transportation Safety Board issued an urgent recommendation Wednesday to ensure main landing gear are correctly attached on certain Bombardier Learjet airplanes.

The urgent recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration would require operators of 10 Learjet models -- affecting 1,883 airplanes currently in service -- to comply with manufacturer service bulletins on landing gear maintenance. A second recommendation to the FAA would require Bombardier to revise procedures to include a post-maintenance visual check of the position of the aft landing gear trunnion pin and retaining bolt. In the absence of a required verification step, a mechanic could inadvertently install the retaining bolt without it passing through the trunnion pin, leaving the gear insecurely attached to the airframe. The misassembly is not readily detectable during routine maintenance or preflight inspections.

The recommendations stem from the investigation of a fatal Feb. 10 runway excursion in Scottsdale, Arizona. After touchdown, the Learjet 35A entered a left-wing-low attitude and began veering left, exiting the runway and striking a parked Gulfstream G200 jet. The left main landing gear separated during the accident sequence and came to rest on an adjacent taxiway. The Learjet’s captain was killed and the first officer and a passenger on the Learjet were seriously injured. An occupant in the Gulfstream was also seriously injured.

During the Scottsdale investigation, the NTSB learned of three prior events in which Learjet landing gear disconnected from the airframe because the retaining bolt was not engaged through the aft trunnion pin.

https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-rele...r20251029.aspx

William May