A NetJets Citation Longitude Lands Nose-Gear-Up at Akron-Canton, and What a Clean Emergency Looks Like

On August 18, 2025, a NetJets Cessna Citation Longitude made an emergency landing with its nose gear retracted at Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio. The main landing gear extended and locked normally, but the nose leg would not come down. All occupants walked away uninjured, and video of the incident - reported by AeroTime - shows a textbook example of how a gear-up landing should be flown.

What happened at Akron-Canton?

The jet touched down on its main gear and held the nose off the runway for as long as airspeed allowed. As the aircraft slowed and elevator authority faded, the crew lowered the nose gently and under control until it contacted the pavement. The airplane scraped to a stop with a little smoke and noise - and then stillness.

Nobody was hurt. That is the most important fact, and it was the direct result of trained airmanship and a functioning emergency response system.

Akron-Canton (identifier CAK) sits on the edge of the Cleveland-Akron area and is a full commercial airport with on-station aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) equipment. Trucks and crews were standing by before the wheels ever touched.

What is the Citation Longitude?

The Citation Longitude is a super-midsize business jet built by Textron Aviation under the Cessna name. It carries a crew of two and roughly eight to twelve passengers, depending on cabin configuration, with twin engines mounted at the tail. It cruises in the flight levels and is flown by professional crews.

NetJets operates the type as part of the largest fractional-ownership fleet in the world. The fractional model works like a timeshare for jets: an owner buys a share, receives a set number of flight hours, and a professional flight department handles the flying and the maintenance. These are experienced, well-trained crews - and that training was on full display.

Why did the nose gear fail to extend?

As of this reporting, the specific cause of the nose gear failing to extend has not been confirmed. That determination is the job of the investigation, and speculating about the mechanism serves no one.

What can be discussed is the procedure - because the principle is the same whether you fly a Longitude or a Cessna 172 with retractable gear. When the gear won’t extend and lock, you run the checklist rather than repeatedly cycling the handle. Most retractable aircraft have an alternate or emergency extension system: sometimes a hand pump, sometimes a gravity drop that releases the up-locks and lets the gear fall into place with help from the airflow. You give the gear every chance to lock before you commit to a gear-up landing.

Why is a nose-gear-up landing survivable?

A nose-gear-up landing, flown correctly, is one of the more survivable abnormalities in aviation. The main gear takes the weight and the touchdown. From there, the pilot’s job becomes pure energy management.

The technique the crew demonstrated comes down to three things:

1. Hold the nose off the pavement with elevator authority for as long as airflow allows.
2. Keep the airplane straight down the centerline.
3. When the nose must come down, let it settle gently and under control - don’t drop it on.

That crew flew the nose all the way down to the runway. That is airmanship, and it is the difference between a scary video and a tragedy.

Why this matters for pilots

If you fly anything with wheels that retract, this incident carries direct lessons.

Know your emergency extension procedure cold. Not where it lives in the book - the actual steps. The day you need it you will be task-saturated, and a half-remembered checklist is the one you’ll fumble.

Fly the airplane first. A gear indication problem is not, by itself, an emergency demanding an immediate landing. You have time. Climb to a safe altitude, hold, run the checklist, get help on the radio, and set up for the best possible approach to the longest, widest runway you can reach.

Declare the emergency. Saying the word unlocks every resource the airport has - ARFF trucks, coordinated runway planning, and controller support. There is no prize for staying quiet, and the crews who handle these events well are the ones who ask for help early and often.

Will the airplane fly again?

Most likely, yes. A clean nose-gear-up landing on the mains tends to damage the nose structure, the lower forward fuselage, and possibly some antennas and skin. It is an expensive, significant repair - but it is repairable.

Far more importantly, the people inside got out and went home. The crew kept the priorities in the right order: aircraft damage is recoverable; lives are not.

Key Takeaways

• A NetJets Citation Longitude landed nose-gear-up at Akron-Canton (CAK) on August 18, 2025, with everyone walking away unharmed.
• The cause of the nose gear failure is not yet confirmed and is under investigation.
• The main gear takes the load in a nose-gear-up landing; success hinges on energy management - holding the nose off, then lowering it gently.
• Know your emergency extension procedure by heart, fly the airplane first, and use available time to prepare the approach.
• Declare the emergency early to activate airport rescue and firefighting resources - CAK’s ARFF was standing by before touchdown.