Description

On 21 September 2005, an Airbus A320 operated by Jet Blue Airways made a successful emergency landing at Los Angeles Airport, California, with the nose wheels cocked 90 degrees to the fore-aft position after an earlier fault on gear retraction.

Synopsis

The official Report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) states that, after take-off, “The flight crew noted an error message displayed on the Electric Centralized Aircraft Monitoring (ECAM) system". There was a fault (L/G SHOCK ABSORBER FAULT) message for a nose landing gear (NLG) shock absorber.

The DFDR data then indicated that the gear handle was positioned to the down position. The crew then received an error message of a fault for the nose wheel steering (WHEEL N/W STRG FAULT). There was no master warning so the FO continued flying the airplane while the captain troubleshot the ECAM system.

The FO flew the airplane over Palmdale, California, at 14,000 feet mean sea level (msl) while the captain consulted the flight crew operating manual (FCOM) and maintenance control. The FCOM noted that the nose gear "may be caught at 90 degrees." The captain continued to evaluate the problem to ascertain the systems' status. The flight crew continually updated the cabin crew and passengers.