Belly landing

A Belly landing is an emergency landing procedure in which an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended—using its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. During a belly landing, there is normally extensive damage to the airplane.

Belly landings are particularly risky because of the danger that the airplane may explode, flip over, or disintegrate if it lands too fast or too hard. Extreme precision is needed to ensure that the plane lands as straight and level as possible while maintaining enough airspeed to maintain control. Strong crosswinds, low visibility, damage to the airplane, or unresponsive instruments or controls greatly increase the danger of performing a belly landing.Fact|date=April 2007

A recent good example of a belly landing was the July 2006 emergency landing of an Australian F-111 bomber [ [http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2006/jul/20060720.cfm RAAF landing gear failure - July 2006] ] . A wheel on the landing gear fell off after take-off, prompting the pilot to circle for three hours burning off fuel before coming in with his landing gear retracted and arrestor hook deployed. The F-111 suffered only superficial damage.

Some aircraft, like the A-10 Thunderbolt II, are specifically designed to make belly landings safer. In the A-10's case, the retracted main wheels protrude out of their nacelles, so the plane virtually rolls on belly landings.

ee also

* Malév Flight 262

References