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Photo
by: Bobby Haven /
The Brunswick News |
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Officials
surround a small plane that was forced to land
without a functioning landing gear Thursday at
Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport. The pilot, the only
person aboard, was not injured. |
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Malfunction
forces Cessna down without landing gear
Emergency
workers and staff at the Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport
held their collective breath for 30 minutes Thursday while
a single-engine airplane, unable to land due to
malfunctioning landing gear, circled the airport.
The
Cessna 210, piloted by Dawn Burke of Powder Springs,
successfully landed on its belly in a grassy area next to
the airport runway at 12:15 p.m., much to the relief of
Glynn County Airport Commission Director Steve Brian.
Ms.
Burke, the only one in the aircraft, walked away from the
ordeal without a scratch but with some shaken nerves, said
Brian.
Although
emergency medical personnel were standing by at the
airport, Ms. Burke was not transported to the hospital.
"She
really did a great job," said Brian of her landing.
"It's one of the best ones I've seen."
Other
than the belly of the craft resting on the ground, the
aircraft looked largely unscathed as crews worked to move
it away from the runway.
Ms.
Burke, who was on a run for air courier service Execstar
Aviation to Brunswick, radioed the airport tower that the
nose gear on the aircraft was not working properly, Brian
said.
"We
employed a procedure where we have the aircraft circle the
airport in order to burn up excess fuel," Brian said.
Reducing
excess fuel minimizes the chances of an explosion upon
landing.
Lt.
Jim Caton with the Glynn County Fire Department said the
Cessna did not catch fire when it landed.
Ironically,
30 county firefighters had just completed an evaluation by
the Georgia Firefighters Standards and Training Council,
an annual requirement of the Federal Aviation
Administration for units working at airports with
commercial air traffic. Evaluators were grading tests when
the firefighters were notified of the tricky situation in
the sky overhead.
"If
this had happened just a half an hour earlier, they would
have had some real-life exercises to evaluate us on,"
said Caton.
Within
minutes, firefighters had three fire engines and an
ambulance positioned on the runway.
Brian
said the airport was closed to air traffic for
approximately one hour.
Original
article:
The Brunswick News
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