Belly landing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Belly landing is an emergency landing procedure in which an aircraft lands without its landing gear fully extended—using its underside, or belly, as its primary landing device. During a belly landing there is normally extensive damage to the airplane.

Belly landings are particularly risky because of the danger that the airplane may explode, flip over, or disintegrate if the it lands too fast or too hard. Extreme precision is needed to ensure that the plane lands as straight and level as possible while maintaining enough airspeed to maintain control. Strong crosswinds, low visibility, damage to the airplane, or unresponsive instruments or controls greatly increase the danger of performing a belly landing.

A good example of a belly landing in modern times is the July 2006 emergency landing of an Australian F-111 Fighter/Bomber. A wheel on the landing gear fell off after take-off, prompting the pilot to circle for 3 hours burning off fuel before coming in with his landing gear retracted. The F-111 suffered only superficial damage.