A small aircraft made an emergency landing in Australia on Monday after its landing gear failed. The AP and 9News report that the twin turboprop Beechcraft Super King Air flown by 53-year-old pilot Peter Schott, with two passengers on board, took off from New South Wales' Newcastle Airport around 8:30am local time. It was headed for Port Macquarie, about 30 minutes away, per CNN. However, shortly after takeoff, Schott raised a red flag about "issues with the landing gear," says NSW police Superintendent Wayne Humphrey, per the AP.
Schott, who's been flying since he was a teenager, knew he had to make an emergency landing, but he was forced to first circle the Newcastle Airport for three hours to burn off fuel. He didn't seem fazed as the chaos unfolded around him. "I would have done this exercise for students, I don't know 200, 300 times, so it was quite textbook," he tells 9News. Schott "did a wonderful job," passenger Michael Reynolds, 60, tells the AP. "He was awesome, 100% calm all the time." After the fuel burn-off, the plane can be seen in video "approaching the runway without its landing gear activated before touching down and skidding along the tarmac until coming to a stop," per CNN.
Emergency responder vehicles rushed toward the light plane after it came to a stop on its belly. Paramedics checked Schott, Reynolds, and a 65-year-old female passenger at the scene; they didn't require hospitalization. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating what happened with the plane, which is owned by Eastern Air Services. As for Schott, he's got plans for this evening. "I'll have a wine, I think," he tells 9News. (More emergency landing stories.)
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