Charter flight lands wheels up at Homer Airport

An Alaska Air Transit charter flight with one pilot and seven passengers landed with wheels up late Saturday afternoon. No one was injured in the incident, said director of operations Dan Owen. The Homer Volunteer Fire Department responded, but did not treat or transport anyone.

The incident closed down the Homer Airport until about 7 p.m. The 7:30 p.m. Ravn flight from Homer to Anchorage was cancelled and the inbound Ravn plane did not land. However, by 7 p.m. other planes were taking off.

Alaska Air Transit reported the incident to the National Transportation Safety Board, and NTSB officials released the plane, a twin-engine Piper PA-31-350 Navajo-Chieftain, so that it could be moved off the airport runway. The plane stopped at the east end of the runway. At about 7 p.m. a crane had moved into position to move the plane.

Owen said the incident remains under investigation and he did not know why the wheels were up when the plane attempted to land. The Chieftain had left Tatitlek in Prince William Sound and was on its way to Homer, Owen said.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.

 

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