Canadair CL-600 Landing Gear Accident at Munich Airport

Incident Overview and Flight Details On September 14, 2002, a Canadair CL-600, operated by a German airline for international passenger transport, experienced a critical landing gear failure while on approach to Munich Airport. The aircraft, a 56-seat twin-engine low-wing model built in 1992 with serial number 7005, had completed 21,977 flight hours prior to the incident. It had departed from Cagliari, Italy, carrying 49 passengers and 4 crew members on a charter flight to Munich. During the instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 26L, the main landing gear deployed and locked correctly, but the nose landing gear (NLG) failed to extend. A red light and an acoustic 'GEAR DISAGREE' warning alerted the pilots to the discrepancy. The approach was aborted, and the gear was retracted. Subsequent attempts to deploy the gear using both normal and emergency procedures in the holding pattern were unsuccessful. A visual check during a flyby of the control tower confirmed that only the NLG doors were open, with the gear itself not visible. The aircraft ultimately landed on runway 26L with the nose gear retracted. The main gear touched down at an indicated airspeed of 120 knots, and the nose of the fuselage made contact with the runway at 80 knots. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway centerline approximately 1,800 meters from the threshold. All occupants evacuated via the wing emergency exits and the forward door without injury. The aircraft sustained heavy damage, including destroyed NLG doors and abrasions to the fuselage skin and the frame behind the NLG bay. No fire occurred, although light smoke and a burning smell were noted in the cockpit immediately after the stop. The aircraft was later raised using air cushions, at which point the NLG fell out and locked.