An Allegiant Air MD83 originating in Portsmouth NH made an emergency nose gear up landing this afternoon after reporting a hydraulic failure about 15 minutes before touchdown. No one was hurt during the landing , a women however suffered minor injury upon exiting down the evacuation slide.

I was wondering if anyone knew if a MD83 had an Emergency Hand Crank, or some other method to lower the gear in case of a failure! I was always under the assumption that there was a manual override in case of a gear failure in airliners! Or is that just in the movies???

Hi When I was with BOAC/BA I remember a long steel bar like a very large spanner kept on a panel by the side of the F/E position on Boeing 707s to lower the U/C I believe it was called a Johnson barand on the flight deck floor was an access hatch I think It took a lot of turning. Regards George

I'm absolutely certain that if there is a manual system on the aircraft, the crew tried it before risking the aircraft and people on board with a nose gear up landing.Did you notice how the fuselage flexed in the middle on touchdown of the nose?