News, Jet makes fiery emergency landing in Germany. (airlines, airports, requirements)

[JD59]

STUTTGART, Germany - A passenger jet made an emergency landing Monday on a protective layer of foam at Germany's Stuttgart airport after having problems with its landing gear.

Stuttgart Airport said five passengers suffered shock and a stewardess was taken to a hospital for observation after the incident but there were no significant injuries.

Jet makes fiery emergency landing in Germany - News- msnbc.com

[South Range Family]

I see that the German media is just as bad as our own when it comes to making up facts about stories.

It's a myth that they foam the runways for emergency landings. The foam isn't applied until after the aircraft stops. There just isn't enough in the trucks to do an entire runway, and you have no idea where the plane is going to end up.

You can very clearly see in the crash video that there is no foam on the runway, and the emergency equipment isn't even on scene yet. The still pictures show the foam surrounding the aircraft after the passengers are evacuated.

Foam works by suffocating a fire. If they were to slide through a layer of foam, the force would blow it everywhere thus rendering it useless.

[South Range Family]

This is a better video showing what really happened. Video: Franz Müntefering überlebt Notlandung mit Flug LH 288 in Stuttgart - News - Bild.de

The spark swere cause by the main gear doors being open. There are thick metal skid plates mounted to the bottom of them. Once the alternate gear extension handle is pulled on the center pedestal, it's impossible to close the doors.

I'm interested in seeing why both gear only partly extended.

[Alaskan Mutt]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

It's a myth that they foam the runways for emergency landings. The foam isn't applied until after the aircraft stops. There just isn't enough in the trucks to do an entire runway, and you have no idea where the plane is going to end up.

Putting foam down for emergency landings is not a myth. While I can not say if foam was put down for this landing, I have seen it done. Several years ago an Alaskan Airlines 727 could not get it's nose gear to extend. The emergency crews put a path of foam down the centerline of the runway. The jet landed with very little damage to it.

[South Range Family]

Foam is for fire supression, not damage.
A 727 without a nose gear wouldn't have very much damage no matter what. That airplane is so tail heavy that you can't taxi one without several thousand pounds of fuel onboard. The nose gear will lift right off the ground while trying to move it.

Look at the second video. The runway was most certainly not foamed ahead of time. They may have done it once in Alaska, but it was a waste of time, and foam if they did.

Runway foaming went out in 1987. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/air...quirements.pdf

This is the PHX standard operating procedure. http://phoenix.gov/fire/20513.pdf

and since we are talking about a crash in Germany, this very clearly states that no airports in Germany foam the runways because it is a waste of time. http://www.economy-point.org/f/foam-carpet.html