SANTA ANA, Calif. — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report about an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle that had a rough landing at the John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA) in Southern California.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1288 landed at SNA around 11 p.m. on Aug. 20. A passenger on board told KING 5 it felt like "the left side of the plane slammed onto the runway.” None of the 112 passengers and crew on board the flight were injured, according to the NTSB.
The NTSB's investigation found preliminarily that the left MLG aft trunnion pin, which is part of the plane's landing gear, had fractured. This caused damage to the left MLG beam and the left-wing flap transmission drive unit was separated and found on the runway near the initial touchdown point.
“And I was seated right next to the left side engine and that’s where it happened," said Beth Tilford, who was on board. "So it felt like a big bang and I looked over and it felt like there were sparks."
“Alaska and the passengers on board were very lucky that this was not worse and no fire erupted because once you get a fire, all bets are off,” Aviation Consultant Scott Hamilton told KING 5.
Hamilton said there have been similar accidents that caused a fire with passenger casualties.
While it was a scary experience for those on board, Tilford said emergency crews did an amazing job at making people feel safe.
“Everyone handled it professionally from the flight crew to the grounds crew coming on," Tilford said. "Everyone was polite and making sure we were all okay.”
The NTSB said the left MLG trunnion pin was removed and will be sent to a Boeing equipment quality analysis laboratory in Seattle for further examination.
