Defective landing gear:Belly landing for NASA's high-altitude research aircraft
A NASA research aircraft had to land with its landing gear retracted due to a technical defect. The impact on research operations is unclear.
A comparable WB-75 aircraft at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach before a test flight.
(Image: NASA)
A research aircraft of the US space agency NASA, a Martin WB-57F capable of operating at high altitudes, had to land on Tuesday with its landing gear retracted due to a defect. Houston Public Media reported this on Tuesday. The two-person crew remained unharmed during the emergency landing at Ellington Field Airport in Houston, Texas. The extent of the damage to the aircraft is unclear and is currently being investigated by NASA.
The incident occurred on January 27 at 11:30 AM local time at Ellington Airport. Due to a mechanical problem, the pilot was unable to extend the landing gear for landing and had to perform a belly landing on the fuselage. Upon contact with the runway, there was significant sparking, as shown in a video by local broadcaster KHOU 11.
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However, the aircraft did not catch fire. NASA is now investigating how the technical failure of the landing gear occurred. The space agency intends to provide information as soon as the investigation is complete. At that time, the exact damage will also be quantified and announced.
Possible impacts unclear
Accordingly, it is also currently unclear how a possible failure of the aircraft due to repair work will affect the observation and data collection missions carried out with the aircraft at altitudes up to 63,000 feet (almost 18,300 m) and whether support flights in connection with the Artemis II moon mission are also at risk. NASA has only three WB-57 aircraft at Ellington Airport. One of them is currently undergoing overhaul, so with the current failure, only one WB-57 can be used. The aircraft undergoing overhaul is expected to resume service in the course of 2026.
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The three aircraft were acquired by NASA from the Air Force in 1972 and retrofitted for scientific missions, such as hurricane overflights, atmospheric sampling, and rocket exhaust analysis, and have been in use ever since. Utilization is high due to the high degree of specialization of the research aircraft.
(olb)
