So it was a pretty boring day at work today, but around noon a plane declared an emergency and landed with the landing gear up. Guy ended up being ok, and I got to go out on the runway and tow his plane back to our maintenance hangar
Here's the story from our local paper:
Pictures from the article:
Now here's some pictures I took when I went out to get it:
Driving out to it in the tug
Trying to pull the gear down so I could tug it off the runway
In our maintenance hangar
Here's the story from our local paper:
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/826 … nding.htmlNashua Telegraph wrote:
No injuries after Boire Field crash landing
By JOSEPH G. COTE
Staff Writer
NASHUA – A Rhode Island man had to crash land his small plane at Boire Field Tuesday afternoon after the plane’s landing gear malfunctioned.
The Beech Bonanza A36 piloted by Herman Hassinger, of Block Island, R.I., was traveling an estimated 70-75 mph when its belly touched down on the 5,500-foot runway. It skidded about 700 feet before coming to a rest, according to Royce Rankin Jr., Nashua Airport manager.
Hassinger noticed a problem with the plane’s landing gear when he tried to land at his home airport in Rhode Island and decided since he has the maintenance on the plane down in Nashua, to divert to Boire Field, Rankin said.
Around 12:30, control tower personnel activated the “crash phone” to alert the nearby Nashua Fire Department station as well as Nashua Police and Rockingham Ambulance, which all responded to the airport, Rankin said.
Hassinger eventually had to land on the belly of the plane.
Infinity Aviation, one of the two companies that lease space from the airport and offer plane maintenance and pilot lounges to private pilots, have done the last two annual inspections on Hassinger’s plane, Rankin said.
In his almost 20 years at the airport, Rankin said he can remember seven or eight other “irregular” landings there.
An initial inspection of the plane showed that a bent rod prevented the left landing gear assembly from locking in the down position. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector will make an official determination tomorrow, Rankin said.
Landing without landing gear isn’t all that risky. Rankin likened it to blowing a tire on a busy highway.
“It’s probably worse getting a flat tire on a busy highway,” he said.
Hassinger was alone in the six-seat, single-engine plane, and was uninjured. The runway was cleared in about two hours, Rankin said.
The plane is registered to Herman Hassinger Architects and was first registered March 10, 2004, according to Landings.com.
Pictures from the article:
Now here's some pictures I took when I went out to get it:
Driving out to it in the tug
Trying to pull the gear down so I could tug it off the runway
In our maintenance hangar
