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Beechcraft Loses Gear
Long Island MacArthur Airport Fire & Rescue was alerted on Tuesday, 6/5/2012 at approximately 11:00am for the report of an aircraft whose landing gear collapsed on the runway. Upon arrival to the scene, crews discovered that a Beechcraft, single engine airplane had its gear collapse on landing & skidded off the runway. Fortunately, both occupants were able to escape relatively unscathed.
http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/7...chcraft013.jpg
Ouch. Good coverage there Tim
I was on scene for this, the pilot actually appears to have done an excellent job in minimizing the damage to the airframe as there was minimal damage of note. The Engine will have to be overhauled due to the propeller striking the runway and the airframe will have to be inspected, but it is likely that this aircraft will fly again after the overhaul.
The Pilot was able to regain control of the aircraft once the prop struck and was able to glide the aircraft into landing and it slid off the side of runway 6 slowly.
Also the occupants were entirely unharmed in the event...Not even bumps and bruises...
anyone know the tail number?
Yeah, I got the report pretty early on, when they thought it was going to be a loss. Once they got it jacked off the ground, it wasn't as bad as first thought. As you said, prop strike = new engine but the airframe was for the most part, intact. Sounds like the gear just buckled after touchdown so there was no real kinetic energy to create more damage.
As far as the tail #:
N2250L
1976 BEECH C24R
Fixed wing single engine
(6 seats / 1 engine)
Owned by: LYONS JAMES J
FARMINGVILLE, NY
I Just had a long talk with the CFI who was sitting right seat in the aircraft. They were on an instrument training flight, doing a touch and go landing after a practice approach. The Pilot sitting in the left seat, was a licensed pilot with hundreds of hours in the aircraft and was flying the aircraft at the time of the incident and the CFI was effectively a passanger at the time of landing. They touched down uneventfully and initiated a takeoff. With full Engine power the nose gear prematurely retracted causing the nose of the aircraft to drop and the propeller to strike the runway suface, The PIC then pulled up and the aircraft was able to become airbourne with the engine power and thrust that it was still producing. The CFI in the right seat then took over the flight controls and brought the aircraft back down safely onto the runway, where he found that the landing gear had retracted and he was forced to belly the plane into landing. He attempted to keep the aircraft on the runway surface but eventually the aircraft came to rest in the sod on the right side of the runway. The CFI stated that no substantial damage was made to the airframe, but the engine will need an overhaul and the prop was a right off. Again there were zero injuries. The CFI is unsure if the PIC, who again was flying at the time of the prop strike (the beginning of the incident) prematurely raised the gear at the time of the incident while the aircraft was still on the runway, causing the propeller to strike, or if there was a mechanical failure, but the gear switch was still in the down position when the aircraft came to a stop, prompting him to believe that it may have been some sort of mechanical issue. Though he was adament in stating that he was not sure as his eyes were outside of the aircraft looking down the runway as the intial strike occured and not inside monitoring the student. I will not be providing the names of the CFI or PIC, however Mr. Lyons, who the aircraft is registered to was not an occupant at the time of the incident.Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Tim #70
Amazing job by them both. Glad they're both able to walk away. An airplane can be fixed/replaced...