Plane lands at Republic with no wheels

A single-engine Beechcraft plane that failed to lower its landing gear slid on its belly to a stop at Republic Airport Saturday afternoon, officials said.

None of the three people aboard was injured, an airport official said.

"The plane landed with the gear up," said Mike Geiger, director of the East Farmingdale airport.

He declined to speculate on whether a malfunction or pilot error was the cause.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, he said. "They'll check everything."

An airport fire truck idled near the plane Saturday afternoon, but there was no sign of smoke or other fire damage.

The 1979 Beechcraft Bonanza A36 plane is registered to Jacov Zimerbort of Plainview. No one answered the door at Zimerbort's home last night.

While gear-up landings are not common, Geiger said, they have happened at Republic before and typically result in little more than structural damage to the plane.

"It happens every so often," he said. "Once every other year, we'll get a gear-up landing for whatever reason."

He added, "Planes can land on their bellies. It's not an unsafe landing. It does damage the bottom of the plane. You'll drag. The prop can strike the ground."

According to aviation tracking reports on the Internet, the plane left Norwood Memorial Airport in Massachusetts at 3:11 p.m. and landed at Republic at 4:20.

Air traffic was switched to an alternate runway and Republic Airport remained open after the landing. Geiger said the plane would be removed on a flatbed truck.

Officials with the FAA were not immediately available for comment.

With Keith Herbert