Other A320s had nose problem

WASHINGTON – There have been at least seven cases in which the front wheels on Airbus A320s became stuck in a sideways position, forcing pilots to make emergency landings.

No one was hurt in any of the landings, the latest of which occurred Wednesday night in front of a national television audience when a JetBlue plane touched down in Los Angeles amid smoke and sparks as the front tires disintegrated.

The incidents, unnerving to be sure, are nonetheless considered anomalies and have not prompted federal authorities to take action beyond ordering airlines to follow Airbus instructions for replacing rubber seals on the gear.

With about 2,500 Airbus A320s in operation worldwide, the number of incidents involving jammed nose gear is not significant, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said Thursday.

“It’s a safe aircraft,” he said.

Wednesday’s emergency started soon after takeoff from Burbank, Calif., when the JetBlue A320 pilot noticed a caution light indicating a problem with the landing gear. He circled past the Long Beach Airport’s control tower, where flight controllers saw that the nose wheel hadn’t retracted and was twisted out of alignment.

The plane flew in circles for three hours to burn off fuel, then landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to determine what happened.

The A320 family – which includes the A318, A319 and A321 – has a somewhat unusual landing gear that rotates before retracting into the fuselage.

“It’s definitely not the most common way,” said Chuck Eastlake, aerospace engineering professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “The reason is that the ability of the nose wheel to rotate 90 degrees introduces the possibility of failure, exactly like what we saw.”