On February 7th an Icelandair Boeing 757-200 flying from Berlin Tegel (Germany) to Keflavik (Iceland) had its right main landing gear collapse upon arrival at Keflavik International Airport. Passengers reported that the aircraft bounced as it landed. The collapse is said to have occurred on the second touchdown. At the time of landing the wind was recorded to be 40kts with gusts of 53kts.

According to a report by The Aviation Herald, the aircraft skidded on the engine. Passengers reported seeing sparks and smoke coming from the engine. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries to the 166 people on board the aircraft.

Weather may have been a factor in the landing as reports indicate 40 kts winds with 53 kts gusts. According to Skyscanner, crosswinds in excess of 30-35 kts are generally prohibitive for take-off and landing while there is no limit for headwinds. However, for this incident, it is unknown what direction the winds were coming from.

Flight and aircraft details

The Boeing 757-200 performing flight FI529 from Berlin Tegel to Keflavik had registration TF-FIA. Planespotters indicates the aircraft is 19.5 years old and is powered by two Rolls-Royce engines. Originally part of Iberia's fleet, the aircraft went to Icelandair in 2007. Since then, it has been with the airline the entire time with the exception of a short period where it was leased to Ghana International Airlines according to Airfleets.

Below are some photos of the aircraft after the incident:

 

According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft was scheduled to next fly from Keflavik to Copenhagen the following day. All indications point to this flight continuing as normal. However, it is unknown if TF-FIA will operate the flight according to schedule, or if a replacement will operate the service. Given the severity of the incident, we would think the incident-aircraft would be taken out of service with a replacement aircraft flying the route.

Second landing gear collapse in a week

This is the second landing gear collapse we've reported on within the span of a week. In fact, the nose gear of a WestJet de Havilland Dash 8-400 collapsed while touching down at Terrace Northwest Regional Airport in British Columbia on February 2nd. With the WestJet incident, strong winter weather may have had an impact on the landing.

In December a similar situation took place involving a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 landing at Denver airport. Its left landing gear collapsed causing a shower of sparks to come from the bottom engine nacelle. The aircraft was attended by emergency services, but no injuries were reported in relation to this incident.

If you were on flight 529, let us know what the experience was like for you by leaving a comment!

We reached out to Icelandair with a request for an official statement. At the time of publishing, no response has come from the airline. We will update this article if any new information comes in.