Film Statement:

This is a proposal for a ___ - minute film about the harrowing landing of Commander Ralph Dannettell's C-121J Super Constellation, when the nose wheel failed to lock down, placing all 75 women, children, and men on board in danger. In a brilliant display of teamwork, cool thinking, and professional flying, the officers and crew devised a daring and unconventional emergency landing, averting what well could have been a terrible tragedy.

Background:

On May 3, 1964, Commander Ralph Dannettell, Jr., of the U.S. Navy's Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (VW-1), prepared his C-121J Super Constellation for a landing at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. Normally flying the squadron's "Willy Victor" EC121-K aircraft used to penetrate and track deadly typhoons, Dannettell was CO on this run, with Lt. Tony Apap flying the squadron's passenger C-121J on this run. Little did the men realize that, while their job of chasing typhoons could be hair-raising, the events about to unfold would be downright perilous.

Traveling happily to Japan on a Navy R&R flight from Guam, 75 military, civil service and dependent personnel were aboard the 100,000-pound multi-engine aircraft. The flight was routine with everything going smoothly and as the Super Connie intercepted the glide path for landing, the crew lowered the wheels. But, the cockpit instruments indicated that the nose wheel was not locked down. Commander Dannettell, sitting in the copilot's seat, attempted to cycle the gear again, but the unsafe indication remained. Without confirmation that the nose wheel was safely locked into landing position, Lt. Apap pulled the plane back into the sky and out over the Pacific Ocean as the radioman alerted the passengers that landing would be delayed.

The crew labored to get the nose wheel down, going through the "emergency nose gear extension" checklist to no avail. Commander Dannettell supervised emergency procedures while Lt. Apap continued to fly the plane. In a daring maneuver, a safety line was tied around the flight engineer Chief Elmer Hieldbrant, who climbed down into the forward baggage compartment where he tried to reach the nose wheel with a pole in order to push it into a locked position. The pole was too short. Splicing a second and then a third pole together, Chief Hieldbrant reached out towards the stuck gear, but again, his effort was in vain. During their half-hour struggle to get the nose wheel locked into place, they crew had lost touch with the approach tower, so they contacted Naval Air Station tower at Atsugi, Japan, where they would attempt to land.

The Chief, from below, noticed that there was a hydraulic leak in the nose gear actuating system. Confirming the fluid levels indicated almost empty, Lt. Apap ordered the nose extension tank to be refilled and once again, the men went through the emergency nose gear extension checklist. Even with sufficient fluid in the system, the nose gear failed to lock into place. As anxiety built, the crew spent nearly an hour attempting to bring the nose wheel down with the hand pump, but no matter how hard they pumped, they were unable to generate sufficient pressure to lower the wheel. Commander Dannattell requested ground crew help in troubleshooting the problem. Scrambled into the air to come alongside the stricken Super Connie, Lt. Kent McKnight piloting one of the typhoon tracking planes visually confirmed that the nose wheel was, indeed, not locking into a safe landing position.

Meanwhile, in the rear of the aircraft, the passengers were wondering what was happening. Commander Dannettell realized they needed to know about the emergency situation and enlisted Commander William Parks to brief them over the loudspeaker, informing everyone of the emergency situation. Parks, the relief VW-1 pilot onboard, was sitting aft of the cockpit bulkhead. He sensed the growing concern of the passengers around him and kept everyone calm during the tense hours ahead.

With options running out, and fuel getting low, Commander Dannettell decided to try to rock the nose wheel into a locked position by having Lt. Apap put the plane in a series of dives. This, too, failed. A technical rep in the tower recommended the crew secure all hydraulic pumps, slow the aircraft, and turn the pumps back on simultaneously. Perhaps the sudden surge of pressure might be enough to lock the nose wheel into place. No luck. That option failed, too.

An hour and a half of troubleshooting produced no results and the crew realized that they would have to somehow land, even with the nose wheel in its current position. All thoughts turned to emergency landing procedures. With barely 3 gallons of the original 17 remaining in the hydraulic system and unable to get the nose wheel locked down for a safe landing, the crew of the Super Connie were advised by Commander Alfred Trube, advising from the Atsugi tower, to retract all the gear for a belly landing on a runway spread with foam (to retard any fire that might break out upon landing). The crew did not like this idea and discussed other options. With visibility worsening and the sun sinking on the horizon, the tower personnel reiterated they preferred a "wheels up" landing.

Commander Dannattell rejected that idea believing his crew could land the big plane on only its main wheels, keeping the nose wheel off the ground. Such a daring maneuver would require precise calculations, taking into account the weight of all the passengers in a manner to counteract the loss of aerodynamic force and keep the plane in a nose up position. Skilled in piloting the C-121, Lt. Apap, sitting in the pilot's seat, would be responsible for the landing. To keep the plane off its nose, most of the passengers would remain seated as far aft as possible, while others sitting in the forward seats would slowly walk, as soon as the wheels touched the ground, two by two, to the rear of the plane. Timing the slow landing with the movement of the men aft had to be perfect. It was a risky plan, but the decision was made to go ahead with it. It took the ground crew an hour and half to prepare the runway for the upcoming landing. Mobile arresting gear, located midfield, was de-rigged to remove all obstruction and the runway foamed.

To prepare for the tricky landing, the squadron's flight surgeon, Lt. Richard Thorpe, went from seat to seat, briefing everyone what was happening. His cool reassurance helped keep the passengers calm. Rearranging the seating as far aft as possible, Lt. Thorpe placed an enlisted man beside, and responsible for, each child and ensured that a man sat beside a woman. Fifteen VW-1 enlisted men volunteered to remain in the forward seats. On command from Commander Parks, these men would walk, two at a time, towards the rear of the aircraft to shift the plane's center of gravity to keep the tail on the ground.

Nearly 4 hours had passed since the nose wheel failed to lock down. With their decision made and calculations crunched to determine movement of the enlisted men aft, the cockpit crew wrote down the final steps to take place. They discussed last minute details about using rudders, brakes, and engines. Commander Dannettell had everyone rehearse their roles in the upcoming drama. Finally, all was in place and the crew took up their positions. Suddenly, as the crew began final approach, they smelled a burning odor. A quick look around didn't reveal anything obvious and the men returned to the critical task at hand. With a possible fire on board, the crew had no choice - they had to land immediately!

On the ground, over 200 rescue workers positioned themselves for a possible crash landing. A dozen ambulances waited. With the nose of the plane held higher than normal, Lt. Apap brought the plane's main wheels onto the runway. Touching down at 100 knots, the plane lifted back up a little, before settling gently on its rear wheels. Both Apap and Dannettell hauled the yoke back, keeping the nose wheel high in the air while aft, the men calmly walked in pairs towards the rear as rehearsed. The plane slowed as the pilots worked the brakes, the rudders on the tail useless as they ground away on the pavement. Slowing to 30 knots, dragging its tail and swerving through the foam, the plane looked like it was not going to stop in time. But the pilots lightly applied the brakes and just as the Super Connie neared the end of the runway, the plane came to a halt, propped on its tail and main gear, its nose high in the air. Cutting the engines, Chief Hieldbrant set the parking brake because Lt. Apap, with the yoke in his lap, could not reach it.

Outside, the ground crew secured a lift truck, previously padded with mattresses, under the nose section and locked the main gear in place. Men threw lines over the tail and hung on, while another line attempted to extend and lock into place the troublesome nose wheel. Even when pulled all the way forward, the wheel would not lock into place. A crewmember then discovered a bent actuating rod, which he disconnected, allowing the gear to lock easily in place.

While the ground crew was busy securing the aircraft, the flight crew determined that there was, in fact, no fire on board. They kept everyone seated so the plane would remain in position. As each person on board exited the rear of the plane, a sailor from Atsugi climbed aboard in his or her place to keep the plane from nosing over. The nose gear was then lowered gently to the lift truck and then down to the runway. As the plane was towed to the parking ramp, Commander Dannettell and his crew thanked the passengers for their cooperation and the men went to the club for a much-deserved drink!

One small part - one critical link to the all-important nose wheel. A potential disaster averted by the teamwork and cool thinking of Commander Dannattell and his crew, along with the skilled landing by Lt. Apap, brought everyone safely home with the highly unconventional maneuver of landing a Super Constellation nose high. Naval Aviation News, in 1990, reported, "…the teamwork, cool thinking, and professional flying demonstrated by this aircrew was first-rate and stands as a model for today's Naval Aviation personnel."

Approach, Form, and Style:

Naval Air Station Atsugi personnel captured the 1964 landing of the C121J with 16mm film. Commander Dannettell has that film along with many still photos of the aircraft and incident. Reel-to-reel tape exists of all conversations between the tower and pilots. All members of the flight crew, as well as tower personnel, the operations officer, and the crash & rescue officer, wrote statements about the incident from which the drama will be gleaned with accuracy. A few magazine articles appeared about the incident, as well.

Weaving the original 16mm footage, photos, and audio recorded between the ground and aircraft crews with interviews of the flight crew (including Commander Dannettell, Lt. Apap, and Lt. McKnight) will bring to life the tense sequence of events that culminated in the safe landing of this C121-J

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