Video shows Cape Air flight with landing gear issue land safely at Logan Airport in Boston
BOSTON - A Cape Air flight from Boston to Maine landed safely on what appeared to be one wheel after a landing gear problem forced the small plane to return to Logan Airport Tuesday.
Flight 1833 to Bar Harbor had three people on board. Cape Air said the pilot "was alerted to a landing gear anomaly shortly after take-off."
Just after 3:15 p.m., the Cessna 402 returned to Logan with emergency crews standing by. WBZ-TV's helicopter captured the landing on video.
After touching down on the runway, the small plane skidded to a halt near the grass. The people on board were able to walk out of the plane on their own.
A representative for the airline says one of the passengers was a Cape Air trainee. No one onboard was hurt.
"Not easy to do"
WBZ spoke to a commercial pilot about the incident. He says this kind of landing gear issue is incredibly rare, but the pilot was ready.
"They certainly knew what they were dealing with and what was going to happen," commercial pilot Patrick Smith said. "The technique here on to touchdown would be to keep the plane up on the existing landing gear as long as possible. That's not easy to do and at a certain point, once you run out of speed, the plane is going to drop onto the other side."
Cape Air said the pilot "performed the appropriate checklist" before landing in Boston.
Flight data shows the Cessna flew over the North Shore. It's common practice to burn fuel before this kind of landing to lighten the load.
Passengers checking in for a similar Cape Air flight from Boston to Bar Harbor were aware of what happened to the flight before them.
"It's much more risky to have cars. It's more risky to have motorcycles," said passenger Friedrich Caspers. "It's the safest way to take a plane and if it happens that's fate."
There were arrival delays at Logan Airport after the landing. The FAA said it will investigate the incident.