kfr@hou5f.UUCP (Kevin Redden) (03/05/85)
RE: China Airlines 747 uncontrolled decent from 41,000 to 9500 ft. Aviation week (3/4/85) reports that the NTSB has confirmed the crews claim that they did NOT deliberately lower the gear during the decent. NTSB concluded the main body landing gear uplock assembly shifted foward, allowing both main body gear to deploy under the high G loading during decent & recovery. Later, the wing gear had to be lowered manually for landing. Other items reported: . the aircraft reached a roll to the right of 162 degrees, and a 62 deg nose down attitude. . the auto pilot remained engaged during the initial phase of the decent. . one engine was lost just before the decent began. . the pilot stated he saw airspeed indications during the decent between 80 Kts and 400 Kts IAS. . the maximum G load during the decent was 4.5 G. Kevin Redden AT&T-IS Holmdel