 MAJOR JOHN ARGUE
CAPTAIN NICHOLAS GRISWOLD
Aircraft 912 was number 2 in a 4 plane formation that was on route from Thunder Bay, Ontario (CYQT) to Buffalo Niagara International, New York (KBUF) on Saturday 04 October 2003. At the time of arrival at KBUF the runway in use was runway 23 with a 15-20 knot crosswind from the right. The formation lead requested and was vectored to initial for the overhead pattern. Upon touchdown, the number 2 aircraft experienced a pull to the right and received indications that they had a planing link failure on the right hand main landing gear. Captain Griswold, the front seat pilot, initiated a go around at the same time that Major Argue, the backseat pilot, was calling for a go around. The number 3 aircraft landed without incident and the number 4 aircraft, upon the request of Major Argue, carried out a low approach and formed up with the incident aircraft to conduct a visual inspection of the right hand main landing gear. Upon inspection it was evident that the connecting rod on the right hand main landing gear was bent and that the tire was not aligned appropriately for a normal landing. At the time of the incident KBUF had only one runway available for operations and there was no cable available to conduct an arrested landing.
At the request of Captain Griswold, Air Traffic Control informed aircraft 912 that the closest airfield with a cable was the Air National Guard Base at Syracuse, New York. A quick calculation by the flight crew confirmed that they had just enough fuel to make the transit to Syracuse with the gear down, providing they could climb to 20,000 feet. Despite repeated requests from Air Traffic Control to accept a lower altitude, the flight crew insisted that they needed to climb to 20,000 feet. Upon arrival at Syracuse, Captain Griswold conducted a min fuel penetration to a five-mile Instrument Landing System approach and successfully conducted an arrested landing. Both Captain Griswold and Major Argue should be commended for their quick decision-making and crew coordination. Their timely decision to go around at KBUF prevented the loss of control of aircraft 912 and the possible closure of the only available runway at an international airport. Their excellent coordination with different Air Traffic Control agencies allowed them to successfully recover aircraft 912 and prevented this incident from becoming an accident.
Major John Argue and Captain Nicholas Griswold serve with 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron, 4 Wing, Cold Lake.
Back to Index
|
