Plane Has Second Bout of Landing Gear Trouble

An American Airlines jet that touched down without its front landing gear and skidded to a halt Tuesday at O’Hare International Airport made an unscheduled stop six months ago in Chicago when the landing gear would not retract, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

The pilot of Flight 1740, which originated in Los Angeles, aborted a landing just before touchdown early Tuesday morning. After circling the airport for about 45 minutes, the plane landed with its nose on the runway, creating sparks and smoke.

None of the 136 passengers and crew was hurt, officials said.

Federal investigators on Tuesday began inspecting the landing gear.

Mechanics had replaced the seals on the nose landing gear and worked on the strut assembly Dec. 19, 2005, when the landing gear failed to retract after takeoff, FAA records show.

The landing gear that failed to activate Tuesday was about halfway to its next major inspection, said airline spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.

But the two landing gear failures are probably not related, said John Goglia, a National Transportation Safety Board member.

He said modern aircraft were made to withstand such landings.

“You’ll see a lot of sparks ... but they were designed so that a landing like that will not destroy the airplane,” Goglia said.