A fractured landing gear component prevented the pilots of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 717 from lowering the nose gear during a flight on 28 June that ended with a gear-up landing. That is according to a preliminary report released by the NTSB, which identified the defective part as an “upper lock link”. “A post-accident examination of the nose landing gear system revealed a fractured upper lock link,” says the NTSB’s report. “Due to the fractured upper lock link, the lower lock link was free to swing down to a vertical position and made contact with the nose landing gear assembly and thereby restricted its movement,” it adds. The NTSB is examining the fractured lock link at its materials laboratory and is reviewing the jet’s cockpit data and cockpit voice recorders, and maintenance records. None of the 104 passengers and crew on the aircraft (registration N955AT) were injured during the incident, which involved Delta flight 1092 from Atlanta to Charlotte. The NTSB says the first officer attempted to lower the landing gear as the aircraft was approaching Charlotte, at an altitude of about 2,000ft and at about 09:00 local time. That action caused a “nose wheel unsafe condition” light to illuminate in the cockpit, which prompted the pilots to perform a go-around and to troubleshoot the issue. They several times attempted to lower the gear, including by a manual method, but were unsuccessful, says the safety investigation agency. Ultimately, the pilots landed with the nose gear retracted. The jet’s nose touched the runway at about 80kt (148km/h) and the aircraft came to a stop, after which fire crews doused it with water. “After the fire chief verified that the area was safe, an evacuation was performed through the two forward entry doors with the passengers utilising emergency slides,” the NTSB says.<br/>
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Canada's public health agency is investigating after a passenger on an Air France flight from Paris to Toronto said he sat amid the uncleaned remnants of a previous passenger's hemorrhage. The Public Health Agency of Canada said it is aware of what happened on the June 30 flight and cited its mandate to ensure that anything brought into the country on a conveyance does not threaten public health. "Millions of travellers travel to, from, and within Canada each year. Given the close quarters travellers share for extended periods, environmental sanitation practices are especially important to reduce the risk of spreading communicable diseases," the agency wrote in a statement. Passenger Habib Battah said he was travelling with his wife and two cats on the eight-hour flight to Toronto when he noticed a strong manure-like odour and a large stain on the floor in front of his seat. Initially thinking the smell was coming from his cats, which were in carriers, he got out of his middle seat and went on his hands and knees to check, he said. He realized one of the carriers was wet and noticed a large stain on the carpet. Battah alerted cabin crew and said he was given cleaning supplies. After wiping the floor beneath his seat, the cloth came out "blood red," he said. "It all made sense to me because I know the smell of blood does smell almost like feces when it's rotten," he said. Battah said cabin crew later told him someone had suffered a hemorrhage in his seat on a previous flight and that he could not change seats as the flight was full – instead they gave him latex gloves and more wet wipes. "My instinct was I can't sit with this. I can't smell this. I have to get it off and no one was helping me do it. So, I just did it myself," he said, adding that blood from the floor got on his shoes as well. Later into the flight he was given blankets by cabin crew to put between his pet carriers and the blood-stained floor, he said.<br/>