Lockheed Starlifter Forced Landing at Christchurch
Sept 28, 2022 21:49:22 GMT 12
chinapilot and 11SQNLDR like this
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 28, 2022 21:49:22 GMT 12
The Lockheed Starlifter is a type that spent many years coming to New Zealand but we've not talked a lot about it on the forum. This story comes from The PRESS, 15 JULY 1977:
Faulty equipment, thick fog, but Starlifter lands safely
Emergency services stood, by at Christchurch Airport yesterday as a crippled United States Air Force Starlifter made a forced landing in heavy fog. Soon after 7 a.m. as the aircraft took off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force Base at Ohakea, crewmen discovered that the landing gear had not retracted, and it was decided to divert to Christchurch.
Although the flight from Ohakea should have taken only about 60 minutes, it was to be almost four hours before the Starlifter was down — at 10.45 a.m. After making one pass over the runway at Harewood, the aircraft headed out to sea, where it dumped more than 23,000 litres of fuel in an attempt to lighten the load.
But when it returned to Harewood, the fog which had closed many of New Zealand’s airports yesterday morning had thickened. There were no civil landings until some time after the Starlifter came down. The stricken aircraft was forced to circle for about 45 minutes, probing down through the fog three times in attempts to land. According to the pilot, (Captain G. S. Hughes) he twice brought the aircraft down to about 100 m from the ground in an attempt to see the runway.
“Fog has a tendency to shift. We just got lucky on the third try,” he said. A major concern was the possibility that the main braking system might have failed, as well as the landing gear, Captain Hughes said.
There was a risk of this because many of the components in the two systems were interlocking. To be on the safe side, the secondary system was used for the landing. This could have meant difficulty in landing on Christchurch’s relatively short runway, he said, and so the fuel was dumped. According to Captain Hughes the aircraft was en route to Hawaii, after taking soldiers to Ohakea for a training exercise. The decision to divert to Christchurch was made because of the risk involved in an emergency landing on Ohakea’s short runway, with the aircraft’s heavily laden weight of 130,000 kg.
The Starlifter’s co-pilot (Lieutenant C. Arlington) praised Captain Hughes’ skill in landing the aircraft. “The captain made a great job,” he said. “The final approach was right on the nose.
“If the aircraft had not managed to land on its third pass it would probably have had to return to Ohakea and try there,” he said.
There were five crewmen on board besides Captain Hughes and Lieutenant Arlington, with nine maintenance men as passengers. Police and traffic officers took up positions in the area during the alert. The two crash tenders at the airport were alerted, while five Fire Service appliances from Christchurch stations were sent to Harewood.
Sightseers who learned of the situation from radio reports lined fences round the airport, in spite of a police request that they stay away.
The aircraft will probably not be ready to leave until next week. Spares and maintenance crew will be flown in from Hawaii, and the faulty equipment worked on during the week-end.
Yesterday’s was the 105th emergency alert at Harewood since January, 1975.
Faulty equipment, thick fog, but Starlifter lands safely
Emergency services stood, by at Christchurch Airport yesterday as a crippled United States Air Force Starlifter made a forced landing in heavy fog. Soon after 7 a.m. as the aircraft took off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force Base at Ohakea, crewmen discovered that the landing gear had not retracted, and it was decided to divert to Christchurch.
Although the flight from Ohakea should have taken only about 60 minutes, it was to be almost four hours before the Starlifter was down — at 10.45 a.m. After making one pass over the runway at Harewood, the aircraft headed out to sea, where it dumped more than 23,000 litres of fuel in an attempt to lighten the load.
But when it returned to Harewood, the fog which had closed many of New Zealand’s airports yesterday morning had thickened. There were no civil landings until some time after the Starlifter came down. The stricken aircraft was forced to circle for about 45 minutes, probing down through the fog three times in attempts to land. According to the pilot, (Captain G. S. Hughes) he twice brought the aircraft down to about 100 m from the ground in an attempt to see the runway.
“Fog has a tendency to shift. We just got lucky on the third try,” he said. A major concern was the possibility that the main braking system might have failed, as well as the landing gear, Captain Hughes said.
There was a risk of this because many of the components in the two systems were interlocking. To be on the safe side, the secondary system was used for the landing. This could have meant difficulty in landing on Christchurch’s relatively short runway, he said, and so the fuel was dumped. According to Captain Hughes the aircraft was en route to Hawaii, after taking soldiers to Ohakea for a training exercise. The decision to divert to Christchurch was made because of the risk involved in an emergency landing on Ohakea’s short runway, with the aircraft’s heavily laden weight of 130,000 kg.
The Starlifter’s co-pilot (Lieutenant C. Arlington) praised Captain Hughes’ skill in landing the aircraft. “The captain made a great job,” he said. “The final approach was right on the nose.
“If the aircraft had not managed to land on its third pass it would probably have had to return to Ohakea and try there,” he said.
There were five crewmen on board besides Captain Hughes and Lieutenant Arlington, with nine maintenance men as passengers. Police and traffic officers took up positions in the area during the alert. The two crash tenders at the airport were alerted, while five Fire Service appliances from Christchurch stations were sent to Harewood.
Sightseers who learned of the situation from radio reports lined fences round the airport, in spite of a police request that they stay away.
The aircraft will probably not be ready to leave until next week. Spares and maintenance crew will be flown in from Hawaii, and the faulty equipment worked on during the week-end.
Yesterday’s was the 105th emergency alert at Harewood since January, 1975.
