FAA mandates landing gear checks on Boeing 767s to prevent collapse

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a new airworthiness directive (AD) requiring airlines to inspect the landing gear on certain Boeing 767 aircraft.

The directive, which takes effect on February 12, 2025, is a response to a safety concern regarding potential heat damage to the aircraft's main landing gear (MLG) that could lead to structural failure during landing.

574 Boeing 767 aircraft are on the list

The issue arose from a maintenance occurrence in which a grinder was operated above its recommended parameters, potentially resulting in heat damage to the landing gear's outer cylinder.

In the newly finalized airworthiness directive published on January 8, the FAA stated that this damage may make it more difficult for the equipment to hold the loads for which it was designed, raising the possibility that it would collapse during takeoff or landing.

Damage that is not fixed might lead to a risky loss of control or possibly force the plane to swerve off the runway.

The FAA said: "The FAA is issuing this AD to address any heat damage to the outer cylinder of the landing gear, which could result in the inability of a principal structural element to sustain limit load, gear collapse resulting in loss of control of the airplane, and potential for off-runway excursion."

Up to 574 Boeing 767 airplanes registered in the United States, including the Boeing 767-200 , Boeing 767-300 , and Boeing 767-300F variants, are subject to the FAA's directive.

A sizable percentage of the 767s now in service in the US are part of the impacted fleet. 570 of these aircraft are presently in operation, according to data from Cirium Fleet Analyzer, which was reported by Airline Geeks.

Timeline for inspections and replacements

In order to limit the danger, the FAA has linked its instructions with a Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin published in February 2024.

Operators were given comprehensive instructions in the notice on how to examine the landing gear, pay particular attention to the outer cylinders, and look for any indications of heat damage.

Depending on how serious the damage is, operators are instructed to repair any vulnerable parts within a certain amount of time.

After receiving the first Boeing bulletin, operators of the impacted Boeing 767s will have 30 months to finish inspections.

They have to specifically check the left and right main landing gear outer cylinders for certain serial numbers that have been identified as possibly being vulnerable to heat damage.

The FAA's directive outlines replacement deadlines for these cylinders, which, depending on the particular components implicated, can be anywhere from 30 months to 130 months following the bulletin's issue.

The FAA instructed all Boeing 767 operators to either review records or examine main landing gear outer cylinders for indications of heat damage in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on June 20, 2024.

According to the data on Planespotters.net, Delta Air Lines currently has 39 B767-300s in service, and United Airlines has 35 B767-300s in service.

On the cargo side, UPS has 89 B767-300 Freighters in service; FedEx Express has 141 B767-300 Freighters in service and Amazon Prime Air has 52 B767-300F in service.

Modern twinjets like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 are being considered by airlines as replacements for the 767, which was formerly one of the best medium-sized widebody choices.

Omni Air International B767 suffered gear collapse

In August 2020, an Omni Air International Boeing 767-300 experienced a main landing gear collapse during a flight from kabul airport , Afghanistan, to Washington Dulles International Airport , with a planned refueling stop in Bucharest, Romania.

Upon landing on runway 07 at Bucharest Aurel Vlaicu Airport, the left main landing gear gave way, causing the aircraft to skid to a halt. All 15 crew members and 49 passengers evacuated safely.

The Romanian Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Authority later determined that the main landing gear cylinder failed due to overheating caused by a grinding machine operating outside its input parameters during a 2015 overhaul, according to Aviation Week.