A NetJets Cessna Citation Longitude landed at Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio on August 18, 2026 with its nose landing gear stuck up, leaving the crew to fly a textbook nose-high touchdown in front of a camera that captured the entire sequence.
Video of the arrival shows the business jet settling onto its main landing gear first, with the pilots holding the nose off the runway for several seconds as the aircraft decelerated. Only once speed had bled away did the nose lower onto the pavement. The two pilots on board walked away without injury, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. No passengers were aboard.
The aircraft sustained damage to its nose and underside. The City of Green Fire Division and Akron-Canton Airport emergency crews responded to the landing, which took place at approximately 12:53 local time.
The jet involved was registered N803QS and was operating as NetJets flight EJA803 from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Akron-Canton. Flight tracking data shows the aircraft departed Dulles at 10:48 and arrived at Akron-Canton at 12:54. The Federal Aviation Administration registry identifies N803QS as a 2020 Textron Aviation Model 700 Citation Longitude registered for fractional ownership.
The cause of the landing gear malfunction has not been determined.
Why the nose-high technique matters
A nose-gear-up landing is one of the scenarios business jet crews train for repeatedly, and the handling recipe is consistent: land on the main wheels, keep the nose flying with elevator authority for as long as possible, and let the unsupported forward fuselage touch down at the lowest achievable speed. Done well, the damage is confined to the nose structure and belly skin rather than the cabin, and the aircraft stays on the centreline. That is broadly what the Ohio footage shows.
It also explains why an event that looks dramatic on video frequently ends with no injuries at all. The energy involved at the point the nose contacts the runway is a fraction of what it would be in a full gear-up arrival, and the main gear continues to carry the aircraft's weight throughout.
The Longitude in the NetJets fleet
The Citation Longitude is the largest aircraft in Cessna's current business jet lineup. NetJets became the type's fleet launch customer after ordering up to 175 Longitudes in 2018, a commitment made up of 50 firm orders and options for a further 125 aircraft.
The super-midsize jet is powered by two Honeywell HTF7700L turbofans and offers a maximum range of 3,500 nautical miles. NetJets configures its Longitudes to carry up to 12 passengers, which puts transcontinental US missions and shorter transatlantic sectors within reach for fractional owners.
That fleet position is part of why the Ohio landing draws attention beyond the usual incident coverage. The Longitude is not a rare type in North American private aviation; it is one of the workhorses of the largest fractional operator in the world, and a landing gear malfunction on a six-year-old airframe is the kind of event that operators, maintenance providers and owners all want explained.
What happens next
With the cause still undetermined, the immediate work falls to inspection of the nose gear assembly and its actuation and indication systems. Until that is complete, there is nothing to link the event to a wider fleet issue, and nothing in the reporting so far suggests one.
For now, the outcome is the one that matters most: an aircraft that was recoverable, a runway that reopened, and two pilots who handled a bad day exactly the way the manual describes.
Sources: AeroTime. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Elena Vargas.
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