The pilot of a twin-engine Cessna 404 put the small aircraft down on its belly in a dramatic emergency landing at Centennial Airport on Friday night after the landing gear wouldn’t deploy.
Sparks shot into the air as the aircraft touched down at 8:55 p.m. Firetrucks stood ready nearby.
“It had the potential of being disastrous,” said Mike Fergus, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle. “That was a very tricky landing. The pilot did quite a job getting it down safely.”
The pilot, who has not been identified, was not hurt. He was the only one on board the air-taxi operated by Key Lime Air of Englewood.
The plane was scheduled to land in Denver, but after the landing gear wouldn’t go down it was diverted to Centennial, said Gary Mayer, the FAA’s regional operations officer.
“It made sense to put it down in a smaller airport once they knew there was a problem,” Mayer said.
The pilot flew the aircraft low enough for people on the ground to confirm the landing gear was not down, said Becky O’Guin, spokeswoman for South Metro Fire Rescue Authority.
The pilot then circled the airport for 90 minutes to burn off fuel, reducing the risk of an explosion or fire, O’Guin said.
South Metro firetrucks stood by as the plane landed.
“It was a very clean crash landing,” O’Guin said. “The pilot was able to quickly get out of the plane.”
Fergus said FAA staff members will investigate what caused the landing gear to malfunction.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
