A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Australia without any landing gear.
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The plane, a Beach B-200 Super King, experienced a mechanical glitch that prevented its landing gear from functioning properly. As a result, the pilot had to land the plane on its belly without its wheels — all while avoiding slamming its propellers into the runway.
Aboard the flight was the pilot, Peter Schott, and two passengers, a 60-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman.
Before making its emergency landing, the plane had to burn fuel for hours by circling Newcastle Airport. Imagine the impending doom the pilot — and passengers — must’ve felt!
However, according to Superintendent Wayne Humphrey from NSW police, Schott “sounded very calm.”
“It was a great result, really well done by the pilot,” Humphrey told reporters at the airport. “I could hear him on the air, he sounded very calm to me.”
Humphrey also noted that Schott “made a textbook wheels-up landing, which I was very happy to see.”
The landing was so smooth, in fact, that none of the three passengers were injured.
Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Australia Without Landing Gear
According to CNN, “the plane had been scheduled to make a 26-minute flight from Newcastle to Port Macquarie, about 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of Sydney.”
Additionally, “Emergency response vehicles were on standby and could be seen in the video racing to the aid of the plane.”
Schott has been flying since he was 15 years old. He old Nine News television that he didn’t doubt his ability to land the plane safely.
“Everything was thrown at us: bad weather, the showers came through, there were about 20 pelicans downwind -– you know, bird hazards,” he said. However, “I never had any doubt in the outcome of the flight.”
Additionally, one of the passengers, Michael Reynolds, commended Schott for his job well done. “Pete the pilot, he did a wonderful job,” Reynolds said. “He was awesome, 100% calm all the time.”
Aviation safety expert Ron Bartsch said, “The situation could’ve been a lot worse.”
“The pilot has done quite a copy book landing and got everybody on the ground safely, and that’s the most important outcome,” Bartsch said. “They have to shut off the fuel, shut off the electrics to reduce the chance of a fire upon doing a belly-up landing. But obviously the pilot has done this textbook-style.”