Alaska Airlines Aircraft Damaged After Hard Landing in Stormy Weather

Alaska Airlines Aircraft Damaged After Hard Landing in Stormy Weather

BY JAMIE WEST Published on August 26, 2023 32 COMMENTS

No one was injured when an Alaska Airlines flight made a rough landing at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana/Orange County, CA (KSNA) at 23:15 local time in the midst of the remnants of Hurricane Hilary. The 14-year-old Boeing 737-800, registered as N516AS, was operating flight AS1288 from Seattle with 106 passengers and six crew members.

 

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N516AS, made a rough landing at KSNA in the midst of the remnants of Hurricane Hilary. Photo: Unknown

 

A YouTube video shot by a passenger on board shows the moment the plane made its hard landing on KSNA's Runway 20R, which caused a collapse of the left main landing gear. The landing resulted in damage to the aircraft's left engine cowling and left wing at the root.

 

The left engine of N516AS sits on the ground after the landing gear collapses on touchdown. Photo: Unknown
N516AS, a 14-year-old Boeing 737-800, rests on its left engine after a rough stormy landing at KSNA. Photo: Unknown
Photo: Unknown

 

According to the National Weather Service, the weather at the time of the incident was reportedly overcast and rainy with winds gusting to 30mph. Santa Ana has an unusually short runway for an airport that services commercial flights at just 5700 feet long, which means pilots have to use heavy braking when landing. In comparison, the shortest runway at Los Angeles International Airport is just under 9000 feet in length. A combination of the short runway and stormy weather likely contributed to the rough landing.

 

Several airlines, including Southwest, canceled flights into and out of Southern California airports — from San Diego to Burbank — in preparation for the impending weather while other airlines, including Alaska and Spirit, did not.

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Jamie West
Ramp Agent at Southwest Airlines (KSJC) and AeroXplorer PR Team staff member with a passion for aviation and railroad photography. Favorite commercial aircraft are the Airbus A380 and NEO family and the Boeing 747 and 737 MAX 8. Favorite general aviation aircraft is the Cessna 340A.

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