No injuries after plane crash lands on runway

Published 4:30 am Tuesday, July 12, 2022

PORT ANGELES — The pilot of a small plane that landed at William R. Fairchild International Airport forgot to deploy landing gear, and airport crews spent roughly an hour removing the craft from the airport’s main runway, the airport manager said.

“The pilot forgot to put his landing gear down. There was no mechanical error,” said Jon Picker, the airport manager, in a phone interview Monday. “Just a snafu by the pilot.”

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There were no injuries.

Picker said the pilot was able to drive the plane off the runway once crews used a forklift to lift the plane high enough for the landing gear to be deployed.

There was no damage to physical property at the airport, Picker said, and operations were never interrupted as air traffic was able to be diverted to another runway.

The crash occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday, Picker said, and the runway was cleared in about an hour.

The plane was fully functional after the botched landing and the craft’s sole occupant — the pilot — was uninjured and drove the plane off the runway, Picker said.

He added any fines or penalties associated with the incident would be decided by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at psegall@soundpublishing.com.