Safe landing
Photo: Yaron Brener
Probe: El Al plane defect caused by refurbishment
Initial findings of malfunction that led El Al flight 027 to carry out emergency landing reveal that undercarriage may have been damaged during routine refurbishment in Singapore
An investigation into the emergency landing of an El Al Boeing 777 a month ago revealed that the damage to the plane may have been caused while it was being refurbished in Singapore, a report carried out by the Transportation Ministry's chief aerial incident investigator, Yitzhak Raz, has revealed.
On May 22, El Al's flight 027 to Newark took off just after midnight. Immediately after take off, as the plane was retracting the wheels, it was discovered that the left wheel wasn't locking into position.
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Upon discovering the malfunction, the plane’s pilots informed the control tower of the situation and prepared for an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport.
The jet’s fuel was dumped at sea ahead of the landing. The plane was also examined by Air Force jets before being allowed to head in for landing.
An inspection of the plane carried out upon landing revealed that the left side of its landing gear in the undercarriage was broken. In spite of the problem, the pilots managed to land the plane safely.
Flight 027 - emergency services prepared for worst (Photo: Ofer Amram)
The initial findings released Monday point to the possibility that a refurbishment of the undercarriage in Singapore led to what would later cause the malfunction. "This damage could explain the means of the malfunction without any findings pointing to an additional malfunction that occurred earlier or later," Raz wrote in the report.
He also emphasized that the source of the malfunction has been located but the reason behind it is as yet unclear.
Raz wrote that according to the evaluation, the fault was specific to the left-side landing gear of that specific plane, but in order to remove every shadow of doubt, other planes in the world would be examined. He added that the final findings would most likely produce additional instructions and directions.
The investigation will continue in two weeks in Singapore with representatives from the US's NTSB, FAA and Boeing. Future directives and procedures will be decided upon when the complete findings are released.
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