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| Date: | Sunday 8 February 1998 |
| Time: | c. 19:01 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing 747-136 |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways |
| Registration: | G-BBPU |
| MSN: | 20953/248 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1974 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 238 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | near New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK/KJFK) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK/KJFK) |
| London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The Boeing 747's main landing gear trucks (bogies) must be tilted before gear retraction to allow the
gear to fit into the retraction wells. A lever latch prevents the landing gear lever from being moved
to the UP position until all the TILT sensors indicate that the trucks are tilted. However, the lever
latch can be manually moved allowing the gear to be retracted in an emergency. Annunciator lights
on the flight engineer's panel provide additional indications of gear, door and truck tilt status.
The aircraft was departing from Runway 13L which requires a low-altitude turn at 300 feet agl to
avoid a noise sensitive area. After lift-off the commander, who was handling, instructed the co-pilot
to raise the landing gear whilst concentrating on flying an accurate turn at night. The co-pilot
attempted to raise the gear lever but it would not move up beyond the OFF position because the
latch was engaged. Without consulting the commander, the flight engineer, or the aircraft manuals,
the co-pilot immediately withdrew the gear lever latch and raised the gear lever to the UP position.
The landing gear retracted but one red gear light remained On and one gear door stayed open. The
commander decided to climb to medium altitude, jettison fuel, lower the landing gear and return to
JFK airport. The landing was uneventful and before clearing the runway the aircraft was inspected
and the gear down locks fitted before it was taxied to the stand.
The co-pilot had initially been unable to raise the landing gear lever because one of the main-wheel
trucks had not tilted sufficiently to trigger the TILT sensor. Consequently, this leg did not fully retract and it damaged the gear bay.
The co-pilot was very experienced and could not explain why he reacted as he did, which was out of
character. The commander thought that the crew headsets may have been a small contributory factor. The crew were wearing ANR (Active Noise Reduction) headsets which, although they reduce
ambient noise, apparently make it more difficult for crew members to hear each other on intercom.
The operator is aware of this problem and is conducting trials of a different type of ANR headset.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fc06e5274a13170008ad/dft_avsafety_pdf_501375.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10624002 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 30 July 1979 | G-BBPU | British Airways | 0 | North Pacific Ocean, near Danang |  |
non |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Sep-2025 12:58 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 23-Sep-2025 12:58 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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