A Spanish Air and Space Force (SASF)-operated Boeing F/A-18A+ Hornet assigned to 462 Escadron (Squadron) – a component of Ala 46 (46th Wing) at Gando Air Base, Gran Canaria – recently provided support to an Airbus A321-211 belonging to Sunclass Airlines, after the airliner declared an in-flight emergency due to a possible landing gear problem.
The A321-211 departed Gran Canaria Airport at approximately 1230hrs (local time) and as the pilots prepared to raise the short-to-medium-range airliner’s landing gear, they were met with a ‘gear failure’ warning. Given the seriousness of the situation, the A321-211’s commander ascended the stricken aircraft to 8,000ft (2,438.4m), headed to the south of the island and began an orbit pattern in a bid to consume fuel to reduce the platform’s weight just in case an emergency landing was required.
The SASF states that shortly after the incident occurred, Gando Air Base activated the “emergency means to provide support if necessary.” Meanwhile, the base’s operations centre offered to send a pair of F/A-18A+ Hornets that were returning from a local training sortie to the troubled A321. After arriving at the airliner’s location, one of the legacy Hornets positioned itself towards the rear of the A321 at 6,000ft (1,828.8m) and began to approach the aircraft to carry out visual reconnaissance and assess possible damage to evaluate the situation.
“Once located below the Airbus, [the F/A-18A+ pilot] carried out a visual check and informed the civil aircraft that it had all the landing gear retracted and all the hatches closed, so no damage could be seen. Thanks to the indications of the F/A-18, the pilots of the civil aircraft thanked the information and continued carrying out an assessment of the situation in complete safety,” the SASF explained.
Approximately 30 minutes after the multi-role fighter completed the visual inspection, the stricken A321-211 returned to Gran Canaria Airport without further complications.
