Plane touches down safely without landing gear

13 May 2024, 10:24

Australia Plane
Australia Plane. Picture: PA

The aircraft landed after circling an Australian airport for almost three hours to burn off fuel.

A light plane with three people aboard has landed safely without landing gear after circling an Australian airport for almost three hours to burn off fuel.

The pilot, Peter Schott, and his passengers, a 60-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman, walked unaided from the twin-turboprop Beechcraft Super King Air plane after landing at Newcastle Airport north of Sydney, police superintendent Wayne Humphrey said.

Mr Schott “made a textbook wheels-up landing, which I was very happy to see”, Mr Humphrey told reporters at the airport.

Paramedics checked all three at the airport and none needed to be taken to hospital, Mr Humphrey said.

Mr Schott, 53, said he has been flying since he was 15 and had no doubt he would land safely despite the seized landing gear.

“Everything was thrown at us: bad weather, the showers came through, there were about 20 pelicans downwind – you know, bird hazards,” a smiling Mr Schott told Nine News television at the airport.

“I never had any doubt in the outcome of the flight,” he said.

Passenger Michael Reynolds praised the pilot’s performance.

“Pete the pilot, he did a wonderful job. He was awesome, 100% calm all the time,” Mr Reynolds told Nine.

The plane had just taken off from Newcastle for a 180-kilometre (112-mile) flight north to Port Macquarie when the pilot raised the alarm about “issues with the landing gear”, Mr Humphrey said.

The plane landed on the tarmac around three hours later at 12.20pm without incident, video showed.

In this image taken from video, a light plane with three people aboard lands safely without landing gear at Newcastle Airport, Australia
In this image taken from video, a light plane lands safely without landing gear at Newcastle Airport, Australia (Channel 10 via AP)

Fire engines and ambulances were among emergency services standing by.

The plane is owned by Port Macquarie-based Eastern Air Services, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Aviation safety expert Ron Bartsch said the pilot would have decided to return to Newcastle because the airport has better emergency response resources than are available at Port Macquarie.

“The pilot has done quite a copy book landing and got everybody on the ground safely, and that’s the most important outcome,” Mr Bartsch said.

“The situation could’ve been a lot worse.”

“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,” Mr Bartsch said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the incident.

The runway will remain closed for 24 hours while its condition is assessed, but damage to the tarmac appears to be “superficial”, Mr Humphrey said.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

The woman was attacked by a shark

Family of woman whose hands were bitten off by shark reveal 'nightmare' after husband fought off '7ft' predator

The aircraft can be seen upside down, with its wheels in the air, and the area thick with snow

Passenger jet 'flips over' during landing in Toronto leaving 15 injured - with three critical

Pope Francis will need to remain in hospital with a respiratory tract infection

Pope to remain in hospital with infection as doctors tackle 'complex clinical picture'

Jennifer Rauchet, Pete Hegest, US defence secretary, and Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Minister of Defence of Poland, during a welcoming ceremony in Warsaw, Poland, on February 14, 2025.

Ukraine is the 'frontline' of Britain, Starmer says as US begins peace talks with Russia

Exclusive
Trump is ‘shaking up our region’, says Israel's president.

Donald Trump is 'shaking up our region', says Israel's president as he 'reveals US leader's strategy' in Middle East

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russia as the war in Ukraine rages on.

US-Russia peace talks for Ukraine begin as Europe blocked out of Saudi Arabia meeting

Harry received a standing ovation at the closing ceremony.

Meghan's four-word response as Prince Harry receives standing ovation in emotional Invictus Games closing ceremony

Exclusive
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (far right) visits the Tapa NATO forward operating base in Estonia.

Starmer should send 'warships, combat brigade, and air squadrons' to Ukraine, says ex-armed forces minister

Exclusive
West Streeting, left, has back Sir Keir Starmer after the Prime Minister said he was ready to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Peace in Ukraine 'vital for Britain's freedom', says Streeting as he backs PM's calls for troops on the ground

Danielle McLaughlin's killer Baghat was finally found guilty today

Man sentenced to life in prison over rape and murder of Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin in Goa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Kyiv 'not invited' to US-Russia peace negotiations

Marco Rubio - Benjamin Netenyahu meeting in Jerusalem

Netanyahu praises Trump's 'bold vision' for Gaza

Actress Kim Sae-ron attends 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards at Asia World-Expo on December 1, 2017 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

South Korean ‘Bloodhounds’ and ‘The Man from Nowhere’ star Kim Sae-ron found dead at 24

Exclusive
Jonathan Reynolds told LBC’s Iain Dale that NATO is ‘a highly effective integrated defensive structure’, and that US requests for higher European spending on the alliance are ‘not unreasonable’.

Europe must ‘work closely’ with US to face Russia, Labour MP tells LBC ahead of emergency Ukraine summit

.T. Miller #10 of Team USA and Colton Parayko #55 of Team Canada fight during the first period in the 4 Nations Face-Off game at the Bell Centre on February 15, 2025

Gloves off: Three fights in first nine seconds as USA beat Canada to reach 4 Nations ice hockey final

images shared on social media show police arresting a man following the attack.

'Laughing' Syrian asylum seeker who stabbed boy, 14, to death was motivated by 'Islamic terrorism'