Harrowing footage captures the moment a small plane pilot executed an emergency landing using only one wheel.
On Tuesday afternoon, footage captured the Cape Air Cessna 402C returning to Boston’s Logan Airport after experiencing a landing gear issue shortly after taking off for Maine, as reported by local outlet WCVB.
As the aircraft approached the airport, only the wheel under its left wing was deployed, but the pilot expertly executed a smooth landing. In the end, the plane veered off to the side without a wheel and skidded to a stop, as shown in the footage.
A 1981 Cape Air Cessna 402C aircraft (N18VV) landed safely at Logan International Airport in Boston with just Left Main Landing gear extended on Tuesday afternoon.
— Boar News (@PhamDuyHien9) September 18, 2024
The aircraft that had two passengers and one crew member had taken off from Logan and then returned back owing to… pic.twitter.com/xqeQXJg584
The pilot of the plane and two passengers, including a trainee from Cape Air, swiftly exited the aircraft. All three were unharmed.
Back on the ground safe and sound:Cape Air plane headed for Maine returned to Logan this afternoon and landed safely despite landing gear issues.. there were no injuries#7News pic.twitter.com/qzLwyN4nNC
— Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) September 17, 2024
Aviation Experts Praise the Small Plane’s Pilot For Their Successful One Wheeled Emergency Landing
Aviation expert John Nance commented on the one-wheeled landing, highlighting that the pilot’s training was likely the key factor that averted disaster in this rare emergency.
“This isn’t something you want to experience—whether you’re flying a 747, Cessna, or any other airplane,” Nance told WCVB.
“It was a textbook landing. He did it exactly right,” Nance added.
“They certainly knew what they were dealing with and what was going to happen,” Smith raved to WBZ.
“The technique here on to touchdown would be to keep the plane up on the existing landing gear as long as possible. That’s not easy to do and at a certain point, once you run out of speed, the plane is going to drop onto the other side,” Smith added.
Meanwhile, onlookers took to X (formerly Twitter) to weigh in on the wild footage.
“10/10 landing given the circumstances, no notes!”, one X denizen gushed. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been on planes with much worse landings than that, and they had all their landing gear. Bravo to the pilot,” another X user quipped. “That is some amazing flying. Very impressive,” a third onlooker agreed.
The incident, which resulted in the plane circling the airport for over an hour, led to significant arrival delays at Logan Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently conducting an investigation.