Canadian investigators have disclosed that the nose-gear of a Boeing 737-200 deployed uncommanded while the jet was climbing out of Goose Lake.
The incident occurred as the Buffalo Airways aircraft climbed through 5,000ft while operating a service to Yellowknife on 20 October.
Transportation Safety Board of Canada states that the nose-gear extended and the crew “heard sounds consistent with the nose-gear banging against the fuselage”.
After declaring an emergency and running checklists, the crew opted to continue to Yellowknife, some 270nm (500km) from Goose Lake.
When the aircraft landed, the nose-gear collapsed rearward, the safety board states.
Rescue and firefighting personnel had been put on standby prior to the jet’s arrival, but there was no fire and none of the three crew members, the only occupants, was injured.
“Company maintenance is investigating the cause of the failure,” says the safety board.
It identifies the airframe involved as C-GTVO. The Pratt & Whitney JT8D-powered aircraft was originally delivered to Air New Zealand in 1982.
