Cessna in Trouble

[Eric Mc]

Yesterday evening around 6.00 pm, a Cessna twin of some sort flew over Farnborough with its nose gear only partly retracted. Anyone know what it was and how it got on?

[Prawo Jazdy]

At the time, a call to ATC as a concerned member of the public would probably have been received gratefully, even if they were well aware. Calling out of interest on the following day would probably be less fruitful. I'm sure the might of PH will grind out an answer shortly.

[Eric Mc]

How do you telephone ATC?

[Justin Cyder]

Eric Mc said:

How do you telephone ATC?

http://bit.ly/15EWbWm

[Simpo Two]

Wouldn't ATC already know?

[Eric Mc]

To be honest - I didn't think it was an emergency situation. Even if he was unable to get the gear down, it would be possible to put it down gently on its belly.

He tracked across Farnborough towards the airfield heading in a Southern direction. Five minutes later he returned, flying in the opposite direction, and looked like he might be heading to Blackbushe.

My impression was that he was getting the tower at Franborough to have a close look at the undercarriage before deciding where best to make a landing.

And I assumed that ATC were already fully aware of the situation - especially as he seemed to be deliberately flying towards Farnborough airfield.

[anonymous-user]

In that situation I imagine they'd want to land at the airfield with a big and wide runway and plenty of emergency/firefighting gear, just in case.

[Prawo Jazdy]

Airports like Farnborough you should be able to just Google. Larger ones might be more difficult, but if you know someone with a Pooley's guide, there'll normally be a number in that.

I'm sure ATC would already know, as (more importantly) the crew/pilot would know. I only mention it as I've had someone call up with a similar observation before (puffs of smoke from a Navajo engine). We already knew there was a problem, but I was grateful to the chap for making the call nonetheless.

Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Wednesday 8th May 11:39

[Eric Mc]

I honestly didn't think that the situation warranted me phoning anyone. Farnborough Airfield has an active 24 hour ATC system - with a Flight Information service for aircraft transiting the zone. And nearby Blackbushe also has limited ATC during daylight hours.

I am pretty sure all the relevant authorities were well aware of what was going on.

[JuniorD]

Prawo Jazdy said:

I only mention it as I've had someone call up with a similar observation before (puffs of smoke from a Navajo engine). We already knew there was a problem, but I was grateful to the chap for making the call nonetheless.

Grateful or appreciative?

[Prawo Jazdy]

Are they not synonyms?

[Eric Mc]

Regardless of the debate as to whether I should have alerted the emergency services/called ATC/run around the garden screaming "THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIE" etc

-

does anyone know more about the incident?