A small plane has executed a successful emergency landing without deploying its landing gear at Newcastle Airport in New South Wales.
The incident occurred during a routine flight to Port Macquarie on Monday morning, where the aircraft, carrying three individuals, including the pilot, detected a mechanical issue shortly after takeoff.
Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The New South Wales Briefing – keeping you in the loop with news as it hits:
The Beechcraft B200 Super King Air turboprop plane circled above Newcastle for nearly four hours.
Despite fears of a potential catastrophe, the aircraft made a controlled belly landing at approximately 12:20pm local time.
More than a dozen crews, including fire trucks, police, the State Emergency Service and ambulances swiftly responded to the incident.
An operations centre was established at a nearby defence base in Williamtown to coordinate the emergency response efforts.
Superintendent Wayne Humphrey said the plane experienced “issues with the landing gear”.
“As a result of that, the pilot – a 53-year-old Queensland man – decided to stay around the airport until he resolved the issue on the aircraft,”
The other two passengers on board were both from Central Coast, one male passenger aged 60, and another female passenger aged 65.
Superintendent Humphrey praised the pilot for making a “text-book wheels-up landing” after 90 minutes of burning off sufficient fuel.
“Everybody was there and it ended really well. Thank goodness,” he added.
“They got out of the plane themselves so there wasn’t a lot of need for us too much, to be honest, so it was a great result. Really well done by the pilot.”
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news and deep dives on topics affecting you, all in under 20 minutes.