Boeing 737 incident near Melbourne Airport, Au, October 19, 2009
On October 19, 2009 at about 10:00 pm local time, a Boeing 737, registered VHVUI, suffered minor damage in an incident during landing near Melbourne Airport (Melbourne Airport). It was flown under non-U.S. commercial rules. The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 19, 2009 · about 10:00 pm local time
- Place
- Melbourne Airport, Australia · Melbourne Airport
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
- Weather
- not recorded
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737 8FE · all 737s on the register
- Registration
- VHVUI · no longer on the register · serial 34441
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight · non-U.S. commercial rules
The NTSB's narrative preliminary · quoted from the NTSB record
On October 20, 2009, at 0900 local time, a Virgin Blue Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane, registration VH-VUI, experienced a failure of the right main landing gear outboard wheel assembly during landing at Melbourne Airport in Melbourne, Australia. No one was injured on the scheduled domestic flight. The airplane suffered minor damage. The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Board. Further information pertaining to this incident may be obtained from: Australian Transport Safety Board 62 Northbourne Avenue Canberra ACT 2601 Tel: (02) 6257 4150 Fax: (02) 6247 3117 www.atsb.gov.au This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information obtained for, or released by, the Government of Australia.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Aircraft structural failure during landing defining event
The aircraft
- Landing gear: fixed
- Operator: Virgin Blue Airlines PTY LTD
The flight
- Departed from: ADL Adelaide at 7:15 pm
- Destination: MEL Melbourne Airport
- Flight plan: not recorded
Weather at the time
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under VHVUI the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.