Summary
- An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 suffered severe damage during a hard landing at John Wayne Airport in California amid stormy conditions and heavy winds.
- The hard landing caused the left landing gear to collapse and puncture the wing, resulting in sparks from the left engine due to friction as it dragged on the runway.
- Despite the panic shown in a video taken from inside the plane, no injuries were reported from the incident, and the damaged aircraft remains grounded at John Wayne Airport for further inspection.
A routine flight of Alaska Airlines ended up with a hard landing, severe enough to damage one of its wings, engine, and main landing gear. The Boeing 737 performed the landing at John Wayne Airport in California during heavy winds and storms and slammed hard onto the runway. While an online video taken from inside the plane shows passengers panicking, thankfully, no injuries were reported from the incident.
Hard landing
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 was severely damaged following a hard landing at John Wayne Airport in California. The incident occurred on August 20th late at night amid stormy conditions and heavy winds.
The aircraft was performing flight AS1288 between Seattle and Santa Ana, which lasted a little more than two and a half hours. While the flight itself was uneventful, the aircraft encountered tricky weather conditions at the airport during landing.
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A video circulating on social media shows the 737 slamming hard onto the runway amid nervous shrieks from passengers. Shortly after, sparks were seen from the plane's left side as it slowly came to a halt.
Landing gear punctures wing
The touchdown was so hard that it impacted the left landing gear, which collapsed and punctured the wing of the plane. Consequently, the left engine came in contact with the runway resulting in sparks due to friction as it dragged on until the aircraft came to a stop.
The aircraft could not move further from the taxiway, and the passengers had to disembark there using stairs. As scary as the incident was, thankfully, no injuries were reported.
Aircraft damaged
Images from the incident reveal significant damage to the plane. The aircraft in question is an almost 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 registered N516AS. Ordered by Alaska Airlines in 2007, it was delivered a year later. As of May 2023, it has accumulated almost 52,000 flight hours across 15,472 flight cycles.
The Boeing 737 series of planes form the bulk of Alaska Airlines' fleet. The average age of its Boeing 737-800 planes is over 15 years, but they’re certainly not the oldest. The carrier’s 11 Boeing 737-700 airplanes have an average age of 23.4 years per ch-aviation, while the youngest in the 737 series are the MAXs with an average age of 1.7 years.
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The damage to the aircraft in the latest incident looks quite significant. Apart from the visible damage to the wheels and wings, the aircraft will need to be properly inspected for additional structural damage. Currently, it remains grounded at John Wayne Airport.
Have you ever experienced a hard landing? What was the experience like? Do share with us in the comment section below.