Crime & Safety
Plane Makes Soft-Belly Landing at Long Beach Airport
The plane apparently lost electrical power and the pilot was not able to get the landing gear to lock, authorities said.
LONG BEACH, CA - A small plane made a soft-belly landing at Long Beach Airport on Wednesday after losing electrical power mid-air and being unable to lower landing gear, authorities said.
Long Beach fire crews responded around 2:12 p.m. to a report of an emergency plane landing at Long Beach Airport, said Jake Heflin, public information officer with the Long Beach Fire Department.
"Apparently the pilot lost all electrical power and was unable to communicate with the (air traffic control) tower, and he was also unable to get the landing gear to lock and secure in place," Heflin said.
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The 31-year-old pilot of the twin-engine plane had tried to engage the manual release lever but was not successful, authorities said.
"As the plane landed, obviously it collapsed on its belly and basically skidded down the runway," Heflin said.
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The pilot was not injured, and had stepped out of the plane by the time fire officials arrived, he said.
No one else was in the plane, he added.
-- City News Service, photo courtesy of the Long Beach Fire Department
