Incident Description
One hour after departure, the aircraft experienced a complete loss of hydraulic fluid from the utility hydraulic system. During the approach to Miami, the flight engineer manually extended the main landing gear. However, attempts to manually lower the nose landing gear were unsuccessful. A fly-by of the tower confirmed that the nose gear doors were open and the nose gear remained retracted. The pilot landed the aircraft in this configuration.
Post-Incident Examination
After landing, the aircraft was raised, and the nose landing gear was successfully extended using the normal manual extension system. The aircraft was then moved to a hangar, where the nose gear was retracted and manually extended four additional times without any evidence of failure or malfunction.
Investigation Findings
The investigation determined that the utility hydraulic system relief valve housing failed due to fatigue cracking. This failure resulted in the loss of all hydraulic fluid from the system.
Flight Engineer Experience
The flight engineer had been flying as a flight engineer with the operator for 21 days and accumulated 25 flight hours in that role. He reported a total of 54 flight hours as a flight engineer in the Boeing 707 and 3,800 flight hours as a flight engineer in the Douglas DC-8.