On the evening of February 11, 2010 a MexicanaClick Fokker 100 aircraft (registration XA-SHJ) made an emergency landing at Mariano Escobedo International Airport in Monterrey, Mexico after its main landing gear failed to deploy properly. The crew and passengers evacuated the aircraft on the runway via emergency slides, and one person is said to have sustained minor injuries. According to the company, there were four crew members and 92 passengers on board. According to a statement on Mexicana's Web site, the aircraft, operating as MexicanaClick Flight QA7222, had been en route to Nuevo Laredo from Mexico City when a "mechanical fault" with the landing gear was detected. The crew chose to divert to Monterrey because of "the length of the runway and the installed capacity of emergency response teams," the company's statement said. The aircraft landed at 8:42 PM local time.
In news photos from the scene, the aircraft appears to be resting on its belly. News media in Mexico are reporting that the airport at Monterrey was closed immediately after the accident, and was expected to remain closed overnight.
UPDATE Feb. 12, 2010: This morning, a few more details about this accident have emerged. The Aviation Herald reports that while on approach to Nuevo Laredo, the crew of MexicanaClick Flight QA7222 "received an unsafe gear indication, entered a holding to trouble shoot the problem and after being unable to resolve the problem performed a low approach to have the landing gear inspected which revealed, that both main gear had not extended." After landing on runway 29 at Monterrey, the aircraft " skidded off the runway and came to a stop on soft ground turned around by nearly 180 degrees."
