JetBlue Flight 292
| Industry | Airline |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 1, 1998 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Key people | David Barger (former CEO) |
| Products | Air transportation services |
| Website | www |
JetBlue Flight 292 was a regularly scheduled service operating between Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. On September 21, 2005, Captain Scott Burke performed an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after the nose landing gear became stuck in an unusual position on the Airbus A320-232. No passengers or crew were harmed.
Aircraft
The airplane involved was an Airbus A320-232, bearing the registration N536JB and serial number 1784. Built by Airbus Industrie in 2002, it had accumulated 14,227 flight hours and was equipped with two IAE V2527-A5 engines.
Incident
The captain piloting the flight was Scott Burke, aged 46, with a total flying experience of 10,829 hours, including 2,552 hours on the Airbus A320. The first officer was David Razler, aged 37, who had logged 5,732 flight hours overall and approximately 1,284 hours on the A320.
With 140 passengers and six crew members onboard, the Airbus A320-232 departed Burbank at 3:17 p.m. PDT on its scheduled journey to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Shortly after takeoff, the crew encountered difficulty retracting the landing gear. The aircraft then flew at a low altitude over Long Beach Municipal Airport—a JetBlue hub—allowing officials to inspect the damage. The nosewheel was rotated ninety degrees to the left, positioned perpendicular to the aircraft’s fuselage.
Rather than landing at Long Beach, Captain Burke chose to divert to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to benefit from its longer runways and more advanced safety infrastructure.
The plane, which can hold up to of fuel, circled between Burbank and LAX for over two hours to reduce fuel load and minimize landing hazards. This procedure also decreased stress on the damaged landing gear and lowered approach speed. Contrary to some reports, the A320 does not have fuel dumping capability.
Passengers were able to view live news coverage of their flight via JetBlue’s in-flight DirecTV system during this extended holding period; the service was discontinued prior to landing.
Emergency responders were positioned on standby at LAX’s ramp. Although foam trucks were ready for deployment, FAA guidelines advise against pre-application of firefighting foam on runways because it depletes resources and may impair braking performance.
The aircraft touched down on runway 25L. Upon contact, sparks and flames emerged from the nose gear but caused no additional damage. To postpone nose gear impact as long as possible, reverse thrust was withheld, resulting in a longer deceleration distance that brought the aircraft to a stop approximately before reaching the runway’s end (total runway length: ). By comparison, Long Beach’s longest runway measures .
Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Lou Roupoli commended the pilot’s adept handling of the landing.
Aftermath and evaluation
Passengers exited the aircraft within seven minutes following a smooth touchdown with no injuries reported. Evacuation was conducted using airport stairs instead of emergency slides.
Because JetBlue did not have operations at LAX at that time, the plane was moved to a Continental Airlines hangar for inspection. Specialists remarked that despite widespread media attention, the event presented minimal actual risk. The Airbus A320 is engineered to withstand such malfunctions and can safely land even without functioning nose gear if needed.
The National Transportation Safety Board traced the failure back to worn seals within the Brake Steering Control Unit (BSCU) system. Airbus later implemented upgrades to this system to prevent recurrence.
After repairs, the aircraft returned to service under the name "Canyon Blue." Additionally, JetBlue revised the Burbank–New York flight numbers from 292/292 to 358/359.
Comparable occurrences
This event marked at least the seventh documented instance of an Airbus A320 family aircraft touching down with the nose landing gear locked in a sideways position. It is among more than sixty recorded nose wheel malfunctions affecting A319, A320, and A321 models globally since 1989. Earlier cases involved flights operated by JetBlue, United Airlines, and America West.
Although some issues were attributed to maintenance mistakes and Airbus refuted any inherent design defects, the manufacturer later issued maintenance bulletins that were subsequently enforced as airworthiness directives by regulatory bodies in both the United States and Europe. Messier-Dowty, the producer of the nose gear components, developed redesigned parts aimed at preventing future incidents but was still awaiting certification at that time. Typically, technicians resolve this frequent problem by either replacing or updating the BSCU computer system.
On March 6, 2021, Batik Air Flight 6803 encountered a comparable nose gear rotation shortly after takeoff but completed a safe return without injuries. Similarly, on March 29, 2022, LATAM Airlines Colombia Flight 4292 made an emergency landing due to its nose gear being stuck in a horizontal position; all 147 passengers remained unharmed.
Prominent Passengers
Among those onboard was actress Taryn Manning, traveling to New York to promote the film Hustle & Flow. Screenwriter Zach Dean, also present on the flight, found inspiration in the incident to craft a screenplay exploring themes of mortality, which ultimately became the film Deadfall.
Representation in Media
This incident was highlighted in an episode of the series World's Worst Flights.
External links
- NTSB Report
- NTSB investigation docket
- JetBlue Flight 292 Landing footage (Archive)
- Firsthand narrative by passenger Alexandra Jacobs
- Articles with short description
- Aviation accidents and incidents caused by undercarriage malfunction
- Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2005
- Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320
- JetBlue accidents and incidents
- Airliner accidents and incidents in California
- 2005 in California
- Los Angeles International Airport
- September 2005 in the United States