From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"Glenn Meadows"  wrote in message
news:433450bf$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Conflicting reports, as many I've seen quoted passengers as saying live
> till 10 minutes before landing.  Again, an excellent pilot...
>
> It also appears from news reports, that there have been 5 or 6 identical
> occurrences of this malfunction in the US alone, on the Airbus.  Me thinks
> I hear the sound of an investigation happening...
>
> --
>
>

 They have had a mandatory replacement of one part in the landing gear
control. Meethinks they need to re-examine those parts again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/23/national/23plane.html
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22 - The dramatic landing here Wednesday of a JetBlue
plane with its front landing gear twisted sideways was mostly notable for
being televised, but it was at least the seventh time that an Airbus plane
in the A320 family has landed that way, according to government records.

It is not clear, however, whether the latest problem had the same causes as
any of the earlier ones

The National Transportation Safety Board sent the plane's "black
boxes" to Washington for analysis and was preparing to send the front
landing gear as well, said Howard Plagens, a senior air safety
investigator.

Mr. Plagens said the gear was last serviced on Tuesday, in New York, where
technicians replaced a sensor that measures distance to the ground.

JetBlue contracts out its major maintenance work, with 60 percent going to
Air Canada and 40 percent to TACA, the Salvadoran airline.

Among the earlier problems was an incident in February 1999, when an A320
operated by America West Airlines landed at Port Columbus International
Airport, in Columbus, Ohio, with the landing gear twisted.

By the time of the incident, Airbus had advised A320 owners to replace a
part in the landing gear control, but America West had not yet done so.
After that incident, French and American authorities made the replacement
mandatory. But the problems have continued.

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