TWA Jet With Stuck Wheels Makes Rough Landing at Illinois AF Base

A TWA jetliner with a stuck landing gear was diverted Saturday from a St. Louis airport to nearby Scott Air Force Base, where it landed safely with one set of wheels up.

Airline officials said the pilot tried to shake the gear loose by dipping the plane sharply, a maneuver one passenger said prompted screams from others on board.

The Boeing 767 made a safe landing on the left main gear and the nose wheel and skidded down the runway on its right engine, said Air Force Col. Tom Diamond, deputy base commander at Scott.

After the jet landed, those aboard used emergency chutes on both sides of the plane, he said. The most serious injury among the 169 passengers and 12 crew members was a broken or sprained ankle suffered by one man.

The jetliner, Flight 756, was traveling from San Francisco to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, said TWA reservation agent Alberta Coleman.

The right landing gear failed to come down when the plane approached the St. Louis airport. The jet was diverted about 30 miles east to Scott after Lambert officials observed the stuck gear.

Capt. H. B. Pratt, a TWA spokesman, told a news conference in St. Louis that the pilot tried to shake the gear loose by dipping the plane in the air.

When that failed, the pilot decided to land at Scott because of the wind direction and the availability of emergency equipment and medical facilities there, Pratt said.

Pratt said that, based on what he knew, the pilot, P. R. Calahan of Pennsylvania, “did a superb job.”

Passenger Mike Mirabel, an Air Force security officer on his way to Italy, said he was “a little nervous.”

“At first, when he was trying to drop the gear by dipping, the people were screaming,” Mirabel said. “When he landed, people were pretty quiet. They had their heads between their legs.”

The plane touched off sparks as it skidded on the runway on its right engine, but there were no flames and no smoke, Diamond said. The Air Force stopped using foam for emergency landings several years ago, he said.