PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A pilot was forced to think quickly when his plane began to malfunction mid-air.
A small plane made an emergency landing at North Perry Airport after the pilot realized the landing gear would not stay down, Thursday morning.
7Skyforce was over the scene as the Piper Arrow aircraft circled the airport for about 45 minutes and attempted two landings before successfully landing on the third try.
Video showed the plane hitting the runway nose-first. The airport was shutdown temporarily as the plane tried to figure out the safest way to come down.
“They came out of the pattern, went out over the practice area, did all their troubleshooting, communicated to the tower so that the airport was prepared,” said Eddie Luy with Wayman Aviation.
The pilot and student were flying out of Wayman Aviation when the incident happened. They both made it out safely.
“Really the best of a bad situation,” Luy said. “They were calm, collected, stepped through their check list, everything they needed to do. Cut the fuel, cut the engine before the nose came down.”
The pilot of the plane could be seen kissing the ground immediately after landing.
The pilot and student are both experienced flyers. “The student was actually already a commercial pilot training to be an instructor,” Luy said.
Wayman Aviation released a statement in response to the emergency landing.
“A senior instructor and student had an emergency landing. They did a fantastic job and followed emergency procedures. Everyone is safe and unharmed,” the company said.
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