ROGERS -- An airplane touched down without lowering landing gear at Rogers Municipal Airport on Tuesday, shutting down the runway while firefighters helped lift and move the plane.
No one was injured in what a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report available online Wednesday termed an "incident" with no injuries with minor damage to the plane.
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Incidents are regarded as having a lower degree of injury or damage than accidents, according to the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board definition.
The Mooney M20K in Tuesday's failed landing was manufactured in 1980 and is owned by Jack Burson of Rogers, according to the FAA registry. It's a single-engine plane.
The preliminary FAA report notes "aircraft landed gear up." One person was in the plane and was uninjured. The pilot's name was unavailable Wednesday.
Firefighters used air bags to lift the plane so the landing gear could be lowered and it was towed off the runway.
Plane crashes seldom happen, but they are a high risk, said Tom Jenkins, Rogers fire chief.
The volatility of aircraft fuel and the number of people who potentially could be on a flight make a crash something firefighters train for, Jenkins said.
The plane slid upon landing, ending up positioned across the runway.
"It was about as good of an outcome as you could have imagined," Jenkins said.
First responders want to be prepared in case of any aircraft accident, Jenkins said. Corporations that use the airport, such as Wal-Mart, help the department train by explaining the layout of planes that fly in and out of Rogers, Jenkins said.
The FAA and NTSB are responsible for investigating any incidents or accidents, but response is proactive at the Rogers Municipal Airport, said David Krustch, airport manager.
Not every general aviation airport has a fire station on site, Krustch said.
Fire Station No. 3 was moved to the airport in the early 2000s, Jenkins said.
A standard fire truck isn't sufficient for an airport emergency, Jenkins said. The airport rescue firefighting vehicle used by the department is loaded with water and foam and built to go off road.
"On an airport you don't have fire hydrants every several hundred feet," Jenkins said.
Seconds count and firefighters assigned to Station No. 3 train to put out fires from the moving vehicle, he said.
A pilot may signal he or she is in trouble and, because of precautionary measures, crews will wait on the ground even if the landing turns out to be uneventful, Krustch said. Tuesday's incident was called in after landing.
Incidents can often be related to landing, but they are isolated, he said.
A FAA list documents 18 incidents at Rogers Municipal Airport from 1979, before the airport was known as Carter Field, to 2012. All were listed as minor.
Procedure at the Rogers airport is first rescue and then recovery efforts to prevent further damage, Krustch. Once an airplane has been removed from the runway any debris is cleared before it opens.
The time line for that process depends on the situation. Krustch estimates the airport was closed more than an hour while fire crews prepped the plane for removal. Tuesday's incident was relatively minor, he said. However, in the event something goes wrong the equipment and the people are ready for the best possible emergency response, he said.
"The airport is prepared," Krustch said.
NW News on 02/05/2015