# Could you land a passenger plane on an aircraft carrier? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938 "2004-02-07T03:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/1 "2004-02-07T03:05:41Z")
I’m watching the History Channel and _Modern Marvels_ is on. It’s about aircraft carriers. So, what’s the largest passenger airplane that could safely land on one? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/2 "2004-02-07T03:10:46Z")
None. No planre at all. They aren’t equipped with arrester hooks. Also, the landing gear isn’t designed to be slammed onto a carrier deck upon landing. ---
**Author:** ![RotorHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RotorHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RotorHead)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/3 "2004-02-07T03:21:43Z")
Depends on what you define as a passsenger plane. I have landed a four-seater airplane in about 200 feet before. While carrying a passenger. I believe there was an emergency situation I heard about in which a C-130 managed a carrier landing. Either I am mistaken, or I will find a cite. If you are talking about a large passenger plane, not a chance. Unless maybe you have a steady 100-knot headwind. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/4 "2004-02-07T03:25:58Z")
What if you added an arrester hook? I figure a small plane like a Cessna _might_ be able to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/5 "2004-02-07T03:27:00Z")
> [@RotorHead](#): > > I believe there was an emergency situation I heard about in which a C-130 managed a carrier landing. Either I am mistaken, or I will find a cite. No, it was an [intentional series of test landings](http://www.cgaux.com/C-130carrierlanding.htm). They landed and took off several times, unassisted. Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to see videos. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_NOT\_sit\_next\_to\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@Do\_NOT\_sit\_next\_to\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_NOT_sit_next_to_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/6 "2004-02-07T03:37:09Z")
> [@Gunslinger](#): > > No, it was an [intentional series of test landings](http://www.cgaux.com/C-130carrierlanding.htm). They landed and took off several times, unassisted. Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page to see videos. Cool videos! Thanks for the link. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RotorHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@RotorHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RotorHead)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/7 "2004-02-07T03:38:02Z")
Thanks for the link **Gunslinger**. I thought I heard of an actual emergency situation wherein a C-130 landed on a carrier though. Perhaps I am merely deluded. I don’t know much about the actual dimensions of your standard aircraft carrier, but there are a few small airplanes that could likely manage it. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/8 "2004-02-07T04:26:33Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > What if you added an arrester hook? > > I figure a small plane like a Cessna _might_ be able to do it. Into a good stiff headwind and with the carrier making 30 kt, some Cessnas would be able to come straight down like an elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/9 "2004-02-07T05:47:19Z")
Any light aircraft could land on a carrier with ease. Carriers turn into the wind for aircraft operations. If the wind is already blowing 10kts, and the carrier is going 30kts, the aircraft has the equivalent of a 40kt headwind. A Cessna 150 has a stalling speed with full flaps down of about 42kts. That means a Cessna 150 can pretty much HOVER in place over that aircraft carrier. I’ve landed C-150’s in less than 100 feet with a stiff headwind. Even larger aircraft would have no problem. For instance, a Beech King Air 90 is a fairly large twin turboprop aircraft that weighs 9000 pounds. It has a stall speed of 75kts, and can land in 1250 ft in calm air. The landing space on a carrier with a full load of aircraft is about 500 ft. But if the aircraft is steaming at 30kts, you could probably stop a King Air on the deck. But you might want to clear some aircraft out of the way first, to give yourself a little margin. As for the gear on a small plane not being strong enough to take a carrier landing - There’s nothing inherent in a carrier landing that requires slamming onto the deck. Jets with arresting hooks do it because that kind of approach gives them the best chance of catching one of the wires. Granted it’s hard to get a nice smooth landing on a carrier because you’re making a short field approach and the ship is rising and falling by a few feet, but a good pilot should be able to land one reasonably softly. And in any event, there’s nothing a carrier can throw at a Cessna 150 that hundreds of ham-fisted student pilots haven’t already done. I remember a few teeth-chattering landings in my training days. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/10 "2004-02-07T07:14:03Z")
[Real C-130 landing on _USS Forrestal_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd22a.jpg) [Real U-2 on _USS America_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd46.jpg) [Fake B-737 on _USS Constellation_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd24a.jpg) [Joke C-17 taking off from a LHA](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd55a.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/11 "2004-02-07T13:49:14Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#): > > [Real C-130 landing on _USS Forrestal_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd22a.jpg) > [Real U-2 on _USS America_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd46.jpg) > [Fake B-737 on _USS Constellation_](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd24a.jpg) > [Joke C-17 taking off from a LHA](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/odd55a.jpg) All I get is is a 403 - Forbidden message. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/12 "2004-02-07T14:01:16Z")
Those links were forbidden for me, try this [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/index4.htm](http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/odd/index4.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/13 "2004-02-07T14:31:13Z")
No one has addressed the problem of _width_. How does a 747’s wingtip-to-wingtip dimension compare with a carrier-based fighter? Would a wide-body be able to land on a carrier without one of the wings hitting the control tower off to the side? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/14 "2004-02-07T18:04:08Z")
A 747 or any other large jet can’t land on a carrier, period. So that’s irrelevant. Of the type of airplanes that could land on a carrier, wingspan isn’t going to be an issue. Someone mentioned a U-2 landing on a carrier, and it has a wingspan of 103 ft. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/15 "2004-02-07T19:20:16Z")
Here’s a fairly recent [example](http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushaircraftcarrier.htm) of such a landing. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/16 "2004-02-07T20:25:51Z")
At the fall of South Vietnam, a pilot evacuated his family to the USS Midway aboard a Cessna O-2. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/17 "2004-02-08T00:52:01Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Here’s a fairly recent [example](http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushaircraftcarrier.htm) of such a landing. > Peace, > mangeorge Cute. I think Bush flew a regular S-3 Viking which is a combat plane rather than the US-3 variant, “Miss Piggy,” which is considered a passenger plane. I got to fly in Piggy off the Ranger near Oman to the Omani island Masira then to Diego Garcia in november '83. It’s basically an S-3 that has no antisub gear and extra seats added. It has a crew of three and room for five more passengers. No ejection seats and the door is underneat the loadmaster’s sear. If you have a cold cat shot you aren’t getting out quickly. It typically carries a gas tank on one wing and a blivot full of mail and paychecks on the other. The other passenger plane we fly is the C-2 Greyhound, a variant of the E-2 Hawkey with a fat cargo fuselage and no rotadome. They still had piston engine C-1 traders when I was in the navy in the early eighties and that is the only plane I’ve seen take off from a carrier without a catapult. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/18 "2004-02-08T01:32:14Z")
Could be, **Padeye** , could be. I’d swear I remember the press people (Bush’s) assuring us it was a nice, safe Variant. But I could easily be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-land-a-passenger-plane-on-an-aircraft-carrier/227938/19 "2004-02-08T15:01:22Z")
Who knows what they mean by “nice safe variant.” I read it didn’t have antisub gear but not that it was a US-3. IICR Piggy didn’t have _any_ ejection seats. I can say with certainty the loadmaster’s seat wasn’t one. Does you little good to have the crew eject if the passengers can’t. I’d expect they’d want the CinC in an ejection seat as a carrier landing and takeoff is the most dangerous part of the flight and ejection is the only fast way out. The S-3 is extremely safe as carrier planes go but bad things can happen. In the US-3 I flew the hatch was accessed underneath the loadmaster’s seat. If we had gone in the water after a cold cat shot I can’t imagine anyone getting out before the plane sunk and opening the hatch would make it sink faster. I’ve witnessed an F-14 go in the drink after making a perfect 3 wire catch due to a human error caused arresting gear failure. The three wire was set for a slower, lighter plane and the F-14 literally tore it out of the deck. The F-14 was at full throttle but lost so much energy from the pull of the cable that it went over the end of the angle deck and fell like a stone into the water. My CO and division branch officer escaped by the skin of their teeth with only minor injuries by ejecting. A favorite saying was “if it says ‘Grumman’ on the rudder pedals, it had better say ‘Martin-Baker’ on the seats.” I’d hold Lockheed to the same standard.