TRENTON, Maine — A private, single-engine plane made a difficult but safe landing Saturday at the Hancock County Bar Harbor Airport.
Deputy Chris Sargent of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department said the dispatcher center was contacted at about noon, though he did not know whether the pilot of the plane called directly or whether the airport had summoned public safety assistance.
The pilot was unable to activate the landing gear on the single-engine Piper Commanche, possibly due to electronic problems, Sargent said.
The pilot and his adult female passenger, whom the deputy did not name, are from Pennsylvania.
After concluding that landing gear was not going to deploy, the pilot flew around the airport for a short time to burn off fuel, thereby reducing the risk of a fire on landing, Sargent said.
“They landed the aircraft on its belly. The landing went very smoothly, for that kind of landing,” he said.
The pilot, his passenger and a dog also on board were uninjured, Sargent said. The bottom of the fuselage and the propellor were damaged, he said, but there was no fuel leak and no fire associated with the rough landing.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident beginning Monday, Sargent said. The FAA gave the airport its approval to move the plane. One runway was closed for a short time.
In addition to Sargent and Deputy Shane Campbell, the airport’s fire department, the Trenton Fire Department and County Ambulance all responded to the call, but were not needed.
Sargent said the pilot told him the landing “went off pretty smoothly,” but that he was shaking after getting out of the plane.
Sargent said the pilot told him the landing “went off pretty smoothly,” but that he was shaking after getting out of the plane. YA think, Nice job, glad all are OK
Good job Pilot!
ARG… The plane did not make a HARD LANDING it made a GEAR UP landing which can in fact be smoother than when the gear is down. It’s just a bit noisier.
Yup. “Hard landing” is an aviation term for a normal wheels-down landing where the vertical velocity when contacting the runway exceeds two meters per second.
Doesn’t do much for the antennae or the prop, either. And, making that first turn-off to the taxiway is just really hard to do. Touch-and-go’s are somewhat impacted, as well.
Great Job landing!!! Glad they are all safe!!!
Here come the aviation experts…look out
True enough. Half the problem is that the articles are written (usually) by non-aviation types. How many times have I read “the engine stalled.” Well, maybe it did, but more likely was a departure or landing stall, usually having nothing to do the engine.
I owned a PA-44-200, a twin-engined Seneca very similar to the PA-24 Comanche. When I read the article, there was no mention of the emergency gear extension. It also said the problem was due to an electrical problem with the gear. Okay, I can buy that. I had a failure on the electric pump for the hydraulic gear (works like an outboard boat motor lift) but I was able to get the gear down by using the pump handle and manually pumping it down. My arm was sore and the seat cushion needed to extracted later, but the landing was uneventful. $2400 later I had a new gear pump and a healthy respect for the emergency procedures drilled into me by my instructor.
So, what is kind of annoying with these articles is you get just part of the story. All that said, I am happy the pilot is safe and sound and he was able to perform a belly landing. Most pilots who do belly landings don’t plan to do them. It’s usually the result of neglecting to flip down the gear level prior to landing. They forgot their “GUMP” check – Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Prop. I also learned one from the military guys I think is really good. When tower clears you for landing, I adopted the response phrase, “Three green and cleared to land [runway number] [airport name].” The “three green” is the gear indicator that has 3 green lights indicating all 3 wheels are down and locked. Sort of that last minute visual check before landing.
What would be the difference between a “hard landing” and a “crash landing?” Either way the plane is pretty much destroyed.
Actually, not. A belly landing usually screws up the prop. If it is 3-blade it is guaranteed to be screwed up. And, if two-blade, the chances of getting it to stop in a horizontal position falls under Murphy’s Law. But, do some metal work on the bottom, replace the antennae, the fuel drains, and you probably are good to go. A belly landing is safe enough, it just is really expensive.
Wouldn’t the FAA require a complete tear down and rectification of the engine? A bent prop could mean a bent crank or other internal damage. He probably will be like most, just fix her up enough so he can sell it.
Oh, yes, if the prop is bent, that is required. I had someone take my Seneca into an unimproved strip (not a great maneuver). The right wheel went into a pot-hole. The props have inches of ground clearance. The right prop struck the ground. I think by the time the prop was repaired and the engine torn down and checked (no damage to the engine), the cost was around $12,000. That’s what insurance is for. It just cost me a month of downtime while this was being handled.
Any landing you walk away from is a good one…..
Having made a number that I am happy were not caught on video, I have to concur.