A pilot escaped without injuries Tuesday afternoon when his single-engine airplane landed on its belly at the Santa Maria Public Airport.
The Beechcraft Bonanza touched down at 3:10 p.m. after the pilot, whose name was not released, forgot to lower the landing gear, according to Ric Tokopah, airport maintenance and operations manager.
The Santa Maria Fire Department responded to the incident as a precaution, but no fire occurred.
The incident closed the airport’s main runway for approximately an hour while firefighters and airport officials dealt with the aircraft.
A large crane and flatbed truck were brought onto the airfield to remove the plane.
David Alberti was watching the arrivals and departures on Tuesday afternoon while listening to the air traffic control tower radio traffic.
The Orcutt resident said he noticed immediately that the Beechcraft Bonanza’s landing gear was not lowered.
“Next thing, you know he just bellied that thing,” Alberti said. “Fortunately, it came to almost where he is right now. He didn’t hardly skid at all.”
The air traffic control officer immediately advised other arriving aircraft to go around, Alberti said.
Other small private planes were able to use the alternate runway to land and take off from the airport until the wreckage was removed.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.