Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990 TAG: 9003092143
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Workers in the airport tower alerted flight instructor T.M. Pearman of the problem shortly after 3:45 p.m.
Pearman, with student Henry Balthis at his side, landed the plane on the two remaining wheels, one under each wing, and gently put the plane's nose section down on the runway.
"It was a textbook example of how to perform a nose-gear-up landing," said John Snidow, a commercial pilot who watched the landing with his family in a restaurant at the airport terminal.
Pearman said the incident was "no big thing."
"It was just a minor accident with minor damage," he said.
Balthis was not talking. "No comment, sir," he said, when contacted at home Thursday night.
The accident happened as Balthis practiced takeoffs and landings. After receiving word that the wheel had dropped off, Pearman took control, shut down electrical and fuel systems to ready the plane for a possible crash landing.
He tried to position the propeller so it wouldn't be damaged if the front end of the plane hit the ground. The propeller was bent slightly in the accident.
Lloyd Enoch, director of vocational education for Roanoke schools, said the plane had received routine maintenance about 13 air hours before Thursday's accident.
"I know we meet all the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration," he said. "This was just a fluke."
Enoch said both planes in the student-pilot program, which is associated with the magnet school at William Fleming High School, will be grounded until safety precautions are reviewed.
"We want to make sure we are safe," Enoch said.
State Trooper M.D. DeHart said the nose-section landing gear sheared off near three bolts that attach it to the body of the plane.
"It was just one of those freak things that happen," he said. "Perhaps it was some kind of metal failure, like when a lug nut breaks off a wheel on a car."
DeHart said FAA inspectors are expected to examine the plane today.
A tower spokesman said the landing gear dropped to the ground after the plane was about 20 feet off the ground.
Pearman kept the plane in the air until the flight pattern was clear and emergency vehicles were in place for a possible crash landing.
"He did a fine piece of flying to bring it down as safely as he did," DeHart said.
by CNB