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March 11, 2006
Flight student Nick Harwood, left, of Traverse City and instructor Ryan Reynolds, also of Traverse City, stand with the bent propeller blade of their Cessna 172 that was damaged when they had to make an emergency landing on Friday afternoon after their landing gear failed. A scary, smooth landing at airportLanding gear failed during training flight
A Cessna 172 makes a pass by Cherry Capitol Airport in Traverse City Friday before making an emergency landing after its landing gear malfunctioned. Flight instructor Ryan Reynolds, 23, and student pilot Nick Harwood, 23, were on a training flight Friday afternoon when a landing gear mechanism on their single-engine Cessna 172 failed to lock in place. Reynolds piloted the plane to a smooth landing just before 2 p.m. at Cherry Capital Airport, skidding to a quick stop on the plane's belly as airport and Traverse City emergency officials staged nearby. The plane's propeller was bent on both ends and the undercarriage had small scrape marks, but there was no other apparent damage to the plane. "We talked to everyone to work the problem and tried to stay calm and cool," said Reynolds. "It feels good to have something you train so long for go well. You just never think this is going to happen to you, but it was no big deal. "I am a little scatter-brained right now," Reynolds added with a laugh. Bob Buttleman, director of NMC's flight program, said a gear pivot assembly that raises and lowers the landing gear sheared, leaving the two helpless to get the right-side gear down and locked in place. Without the right-side gear, Reynolds and Harwood had to land without any gear to avoid flipping the plane or damaging a wing, said Buttleman. "The guys did a great job," he said. "There was so little damage because they did an excellent job. We told them exactly what to do and they followed the procedures." Traverse City fire and police officials scrambled several emergency vehicles just after 1 p.m., staging at the old airport terminal as Reynolds tried to burn off excess fuel before landing. Reynolds and Harwood put the plane down - engine off, fuel shut down, doors open for a quick bail out - in full view of the Michigan Technological Education Center at NMC where many of their peers stood at the fence line. As the gear was locked in place and the plane towed away, spectators cheered the safe landing. "At first it gets the blood going, but you get down to doing what you have to do," said Harwood. "A gear-up landing is pretty uneventful, but when it comes to the fact that you are up in the air and there is no other way down, that can make you a little nervous at first. "I think the way it was handled was smooth. No worries," he said.
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