physics

Virgin Atlantic Flight 024

Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 rather than just read about it. In short: Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 was a regularly scheduled Virgin Atlantic passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to London, United Kingdom. On 5 November 1997, the Airbus A340 was forced to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport after the left main landing gear failed to deploy.

Key takeaways

Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 was a regularly scheduled Virgin Atlantic passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to London, United Kingdom. On 5 November 1997, the Airbus A340 was forced to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport after the left main landing gear failed to deploy. During the crash landing, the aircraft was damaged and later repaired. Of the 114 passengers and crew aboard, 7 were lightly injured.

Aircraft The aircraft involved was an Airbus A340-311, registered G-VSKY with manufacturer serial number 016. It made its first flight on 3 November 1993 and was delivered soon after to Virgin Atlantic on 21 January 1994. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had flown 19,323 hours. It was fitted with four CFM International CFM56-5C2 high-bypass turbofan engines.

Accident At 05:09 GMT (21:09 local time), flight VS024 departed from runway 24L in Los Angeles following a 19-minute delay. While climbing, the crew noticed that the landing gear was slow to retract. Later, during a routine in-flight systems scan, it was noted that the no. 6 brake temperature sensor on the inboard rear wheel of the main landing gear had failed, but the flight was otherwise uneventful. At 15:04 GMT, while on final approach to Runway 27L at London Heathrow, the crew received an aural "Gear unsafe" alert after deploying the landing gear, After which, the first officer, who was the pilot flying, elected to go around at 2.5 nm from the runway threshold and return to a holding pattern to attempt to resolve the problem. The crew decided to fly near the ATC tower to have a controller visually identify any problem. It was found that after attempting to gravity drop the left main landing gear, that it was stuck in a partially deployed position. The crew tried to complete several manoeuvres to free the landing gear without success. The crew had planned to touch the runway with the right main landing gear and immediately go around, hoping to shake the landing gear into a locked position but this was not attempted. When the crew realized that it was impossible to deploy the left main landing gear, the passengers and airport were prepared for an emergency landing. At 16:08 with the aircraft nearly out of fuel, a "Mayday" was declared. The crew chose to land the plane on runway 27L, believing the lopsided aircraft would turn away from airport facilities once on the ground and towards empty space. As the aircraft touched down, engine 4 struck the runway and the right main landing gear tyres burst. Soon after, engines 1 and 2 also struck the ground, bursting into flames. Once the aircraft veered to the left and stopped passengers were evacuated, seven of which suffered minor injuries.

Cause The accident was caused by the following factors:

Full deployment of the left main landing gear was prevented because the unrestrained end of the No. 6 brake torque rod became trapped in the keel beam structure within the gear bay. It jammed the landing gear in a partially deployed position. The torque pin that had connected the No. 6 brake torque rod to the wheel brake had disengaged during landing gear retraction after takeoff from Los Angeles, allowing the unrestrained rod to pivot freely about the retained end. The torque pin and its retaining assembly had been subject to higher axial and torsional loads than predicted during aircraft braking in service. These loads were the result of elastic deformation of the wheel axle, brake, and torque rod, and due to assembly without the correct axial clearance as a result of prior undetected displacement of the associated bushes. The precise mode of failure of the retaining assembly bolt, nut, and cotter, could not be ascertained in the absence of these parts. This design of wheel brake assembly had satisfactorily passed the related wheel brake structural torque test. The latter however, contained no requirement to use a representative axle or other means to reproduce the axle deflections which occur during aircraft braking in service. As a result, the inspection did not require post torque test strip assessment of brake assemblies, in turn resulted in an over stressing deformation which produced component failure.

Aftermath The aircraft sustained considerable damage, including to three engines and the landing gear. Runway 27L was damaged after the tyres burst.

See also List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16 Jeju Air Flight 2216

References This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: Report on the accident to Airbus A340-311, G-VSKY, at London Heathrow Airport on 5 November 1997

External links Final Report (Archive) Appendices (Archive)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Virgin Atlantic Flight 024

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Virgin Atlantic Flight 024

In research: Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1997 disasters in the United Kingdom, 1997 in London, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 in simple terms?

Why does Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Virgin Atlantic Flight 024?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Virgin Atlantic Flight 024.