Belly Landing:
As many as 179 people were killed when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 made a belly-landing in South Korea.
- Also known as gear-up landing, it is an emergency landing technique that involves an aeroplane landing without extending its landing gear.
- It is a last resort for pilots who are unable to deploy their landing gear owing to a technical or mechanical malfunction.
- Belly-landings are risky and carried out only in an emergency.
- It results in considerable damage to the plane, its engines and wings as the aircraft skids to a stop and can leave those onboard injured.
- The friction generated by the aircraft skidding on the runway can also create sparks or result in a fire.
- A cockpit crew decides to land an aircraft on its belly in the following situations:
- Landing gear fails to deploy.
- A stricken aircraft cannot make it to an airport and landing is done in a field. The pilot considers skidding the aircraft to a stop safer than touching down on wheels.
- Ditching: when an aircraft makes an emergency landing on water.
- Any other situation a pilot considers a belly-landing safer than landing on wheels.
