By CATHY ARONSON
A 19-seater aircraft made an emergency belly landing at Hamilton Airport yesterday after its landing gear broke.
The Metroliner plane, owned by Eagle Airways, was on a training flight and the two pilots were the only people on board.
Soon after the aircraft left Gisborne Airport at 2 pm, the left-hand undercarriage wheel bracket broke. The wheel could not be retracted or fully extended.
Eagle Airways chief executive John Hambleton said the plane was sent to land at the company's headquarters in Hamilton.
It circled above the Hamilton runway for an hour to reduce its fuel load while emergency services prepared for the landing and technical engineers talked to the pilot.
The plane landed with the broken wheel hanging down, but the force of the landing pushed it back into its retracted position.
After sliding along the runway, the aircraft came to a halt when one of its propellers dug into the ground, slewing it in a 180-degree turn.
Emergency crews coated it with fire retardant foam as a precaution.
Mr Hambleton said the dangerous landing was handled extremely well and the pilots were uninjured.
Hamilton Airport's main runway was closed for nearly 90 minutes while cranes removed the plane.
In another air accident yesterday, a microlight aircraft plunged 300m and crashed near Katikati, north of Tauranga.
Witnesses said the pilot seemed to be trying to perform a loop when the aircraft's wings folded.
A Katikati man, aged in his 30s, was the sole occupant of the aircraft.
He suffered serious head injuries and was flown by the WestpacTrust Air Ambulance to Waikato Hospital.
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