What: South African Airlink Avro RJ-85 en route from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg South Africa
Where: Johannesburg
When: Nov 10th 2011 9:20 pm
Who: 73 passengers and 4 crew
Why: Just after takeoff from Johannesburg, the flight developed nose gear trouble. When the pilots returned to the airport, the nose gear did not come down, which was verified on a flyby.
While burning off fuel for two hours, pilots attempted to extend the nose gear, and when attempts failed, had to land without nose gear on the plane’s belly. Passengers evacuated on to the runway at the airport of origin, OR Tambo International, after the three hour flight.
There were no injuries.