On August 27, 2026, a rapid undercarriage recovery tug specifically designed for Category C aircraft completed its live testing and acceptance review at Urumqi Tianshan International Airport. The unit, developed under the leadership of the Aviation Security Department (Fire and Rescue Station) of the Urumqi International Airport Branch, was manufactured by Zhong'an (Tianjin) Aviation Equipment Co., Ltd. and marks the first domestically produced rapid recovery tool tailored for landing gear failure scenarios in this aircraft category.
Aircraft damage recovery capability serves as a critical pillar of airport emergency response systems, directly influencing runway restoration speed and operational safety benchmarks. With the activation of the northern terminal area and the progressive establishment of a multi-runway operational structure at Urumqi Tianshan International Airport, flight support pressure has intensified substantially. Sudden failures such as tire blowouts, wheel hub damage, or wheel lock-ups can easily result in extended runway occupancy and trigger widespread flight disruptions.
Historically, addressing Category C aircraft landing gear malfunctions relied on two main approaches. The first involved assembling general-purpose support equipment on an ad hoc basis, which created coordination challenges and elevated the risk of secondary damage to aircraft. The second approach depended on importing specialized foreign recovery equipment, which carried prohibitive procurement and maintenance expenses, along with operational logic that often diverged from domestic rescue practices and impeded autonomous equipment control. These challenges grew more pronounced with escalating flight volumes.
Where to begin
In response to these pressing operational realities, the Aviation Security Department (Fire and Rescue Station) formally initiated the Category C aircraft landing gear rapid recovery device development project in August 2025. The initiative established a technical roadmap centered on domestic equipment production, operational efficiency optimization, and intelligent monitoring integration.
The equipment achieves a self-weight of under 2.2 tons while delivering a load capacity of 30 tons, with lightweight design significantly reducing repositioning complexity and energy consumption. The built-in self-traction system represents the core technological breakthrough, differentiating it from foreign counterparts that depend on external tow vehicles for positioning. This device independently pulls the landing gear smoothly onto the lifting platform using its own mechanism, supported by a tension meter that monitors pulling force in real time and automatically halts operations upon exceeding preset thresholds, thereby eliminating the risk of overload-induced damage.
Why pursue precision engineering
Dual operational modes enhance adaptability across diverse scenarios. In docking mode, the chassis clearance stands at merely 0.5 to 0.8 centimeters, facilitating smooth landing gear positioning onto the platform. Travel mode raises the chassis to 20 centimeters, ensuring unobstructed movement across airfield surfaces. The system integrates an electro-hydraulic lifting platform, wireless remote control, and onboard monitoring modules, enabling operators to execute all functions within a 100-meter range while observing landing gear positioning and lashing status through real-time surveillance for early anomaly detection and resolution.
From an operational effectiveness standpoint, this equipment represents not merely a tool substitution but a fundamental restructuring of response procedures. Conventional recovery methods required the coordinated deployment of lifting airbags, tow vehicles, hoisting apparatus, and other machinery, demanding extensive personnel input, complex process interconnections, and dispersed risk points. The new device consolidates lifting, traction, loading, lashing, and transport into a single integrated system, completing the full recovery sequence without external lifting support. Design parameters indicate a maximum deployment time of three minutes and a single rescue loading duration not exceeding fifteen minutes compared to traditional combined equipment approaches, operational efficiency improves dramatically, runway occupancy time decreases substantially, and cascading flight delay chains become containable. The equipment also incorporates dual-unit parallel connection interfaces, extending its applicability to Category D aircraft rescue operations.
Domestic breakthrough
This project accomplished end-to-end autonomous control spanning requirement definition, solution design, and engineering construction. Two utility model patent applications have been filed for the high-precision stable dual-unit parallel connection system and the operational specifications with maintenance system for the Category C aircraft landing gear rapid recovery device. Key technologies including efficient docking, stress-sensing early warning, and lightweight material application have all completed technical validation.
During the acceptance exercise, the equipment successfully executed the complete recovery sequence—alignment preparation, mode switching, traction loading, lashing fixation, and transport egress—under simulated real-world tire blowout conditions, with each phase demonstrating precise coordination and achieving deployment and loading times within design specifications.
As Urumqi Tianshan International Airport transitions toward full three-runway operations, flight support demands will continue escalating, amplifying the importance of rapid damaged-aircraft recovery capability. The successful acceptance of this equipment signifies a landmark achievement in domestic research and development of damaged aircraft emergency recovery systems. It provides robust support for multi-runway operational safety across Xinjiang airports while contributing a replicable and scalable model for Category C aircraft emergency recovery equipment systems throughout China's civil aviation sector.