LO16 (EWR-WAW) and IR742 (SVO-IKA) incident;landing without the landing gear!

Yesterday (1/11/2011),Aviation Enthusiasts around the world was shocked upon the news of a LOT Polish Airlines aircraft (B767-35D/ER,SP-LPC) forced to make an emergency landing without the landing gears due to the landing gear malfunction.The aircraft,operating as LO16,flew from Newark Liberty International Airport,New Jersey (EWR) to Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW),Warsaw,Poland.


Below are the photos snapped by Polish Aviation Photographers; and all 5 of the photos were became Top 5 in the last 24 hours in Airliners.net!

Photo Copyright-Pawel Guraj (This photo is currently No.1 on the Top 5 Photos in the last 24 hours)

Photo Copyright-Damian Lesniak (No.2 in the Top 5 of the last 24 hours)

Photo Copyright-Adam Myszkowski (No.3 in the Top 5 of the last 24 hours)

Photo Copyright- Jakub Kalinowski (No.4 in the Top 5 of the last 24 hours)

Photo Copyright-Robert Szymczak (No.5 in the Top 5 of the last 24 hours)

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 767-300ER,serial number 28656,LN:659 and delivered to LOT in 15 May 1997.Named  'Poznań' (after the Polish City of  Poznań),She was leased out to other operators: First for six months to Air Italy,and secondly to Santa Barbara Airlines (SBA) of Venezuela for three months in early 2007.

Before the LO16 incident,a similar incident occurred in Iran,involving a Iran Air Boeing 727-200Adv (EP-IRR).The aircraft,flying as IR742 from Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) to Tehran-Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA).The aircraft,Boeing 727-286/Adv was reported failed to receive a down and locked indication for the nose gear,and aborted the approach.

After failed attempt to troubleshoot the problem,the pilots,led by Captain Houshang Shahbazi,decided to land the plane down,and the plane successfully landed,with minimal damage on the front section of the plane.

Below of the video of the incident posted on Youtube:

And also the photo of the aircraft after the incident on Airliners.net:

Photo Copyright-Hamid Reza Jafari

However,the pilot who made the incredible landing later received a rude surprise: Banned from flying for two month.Captain Shahbazi was later saddened by the ban,and quoted; "They even don't say Thank You',he said.

However,his professionalism was hailed by Pilots and Aviation Enthusiasts around the world,and his Facebook page has attracted hundreds of friend requests throughout Iran and internationally.

Captain Shahbazi in front of the B727 he successfully landed.Photo from his own Facebook page.