A training flight went wrong at Merrill Field on Wednesday afternoon when a mechanical error forced the pilot and student to make an emergency landing, skidding onto the grass next to an airstrip with a legion of emergency personnel on hand, prepared for the worst-case scenario.
The Cessna 177, which apparently could not lower its landing gear, circled in sunny skies above the airport for over an hour, several times flying low to look for possible landing spots before finally bumping through a belly landing.
As a precaution in case of flames and to create a slick landing surface, airport personnel sprayed the grass near the tarmac of a runway with water. The fear was the plane would flip, spin, or break into flames because of the fuel onboard.
The pilot reportedly had no way to dump the fuel before attempting the emergency landing.
Both the pilot and student were uninjured and walked away through a circle of six fire trucks that rushed toward the plane as it came to a stop.
The Cessna belongs to Aero Tech Flight Service, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Clint Johnson.
Johnson refused to identify either person. The owner, instructor and student all declined comment.
When the instructor left the crash scene and walked back to the Aero Tech offices, he was greeted with pats on the back and all-around congratulations for pulling off a landing that could have ended very differently.
When asked how he did it, he said to talk to "the pilot" and pointed toward his student, a young woman.
Then he winked and walked out the back door.
When emergency personnel first got the call around 3 p.m. fire trucks and paramedics raced to the scene. The retractable wheels on the Cessna were stuck, they were told.
Paramedics, firefighters, the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Authority, and airport personnel watched as the plane made a final circle of the airport and headed in for the landing with wheels halfway down and no nose wheel. It touched down at 3:45 p.m., skidding about 60 feet, kicking up dirt and grass in its wake. It didn't flip.
Even the firefighters clapped and cheered.
Merrill Field Airport has about 170,000 take-offs and landings each year, said David Lundeby, airport manager. On a sunny summer day, such as Wednesday, the airport sees as many as a 1,000 take-offs and landings, he said.
"Most of the time when we get these calls, typically it isn't a true mechanical error," said fire Capt. Mike Melchert.
"But this one really looked like it was going to be a crash landing."
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By MEGAN HOLLAND
mholland@adn.com