Post by Bruce on Sept 7, 2009 9:32:45 GMT 12
I was there!
See tvnz.co.nz/national-news/light-plane-crash-lands-tauranga-2969175
Two people were uninjured when a small plane made an emergency landing at Tauranga airport on Sunday.
The incident happened about 11.30am when the two occupants of a two-seater Sports Cruiser aircraft reported troubles with its undercarriage.
The plane had taken off from Whakatane for flight training, a Tauranga police spokesman said.
The plane landed safely with minimal damage at Tauranga.
The Civil Aviation Authority would be making further inquiries, the police spokesman said.
- End of quote
I was at Tauranga at the time and saw this happen - actually quite a few people saw it (The Tga Aero Club was having landing comps at the time so there were lots of people standing near the runway, and the Tauranga harbour bridge walk was under way with thousands involved (see the photo on the link!)
It appears the nosewheel was damaged at some point (probably during take off) as the SportCruizer has (normally) fixed gear.
I was surprised however at the emergency response - 4 City fire appliance attended plus the older of the airport crash trucks - The airports own specialist Unipower truck just parked by the tower. I would have thought the specialist unit would have been the one used, but they used the city trucks to "chase" it... odd.
The other odd thing was 3 or 4 police cars also attended - what were they required for? Riot control?
See tvnz.co.nz/national-news/light-plane-crash-lands-tauranga-2969175
Two people were uninjured when a small plane made an emergency landing at Tauranga airport on Sunday.
The incident happened about 11.30am when the two occupants of a two-seater Sports Cruiser aircraft reported troubles with its undercarriage.
The plane had taken off from Whakatane for flight training, a Tauranga police spokesman said.
The plane landed safely with minimal damage at Tauranga.
The Civil Aviation Authority would be making further inquiries, the police spokesman said.
- End of quote
I was at Tauranga at the time and saw this happen - actually quite a few people saw it (The Tga Aero Club was having landing comps at the time so there were lots of people standing near the runway, and the Tauranga harbour bridge walk was under way with thousands involved (see the photo on the link!)
It appears the nosewheel was damaged at some point (probably during take off) as the SportCruizer has (normally) fixed gear.
I was surprised however at the emergency response - 4 City fire appliance attended plus the older of the airport crash trucks - The airports own specialist Unipower truck just parked by the tower. I would have thought the specialist unit would have been the one used, but they used the city trucks to "chase" it... odd.
The other odd thing was 3 or 4 police cars also attended - what were they required for? Riot control?
