Nov 19, 2014 2 min read

A small plane had a scary ordeal Wednesday at Washington County Airport after the pilot attempted to land without the plane’s landing gear.

Scott Gray, airport executive director, said the incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. The pilot was not injured. Witnesses at the scene said the landing gear, or wheels, were not down when the plane attempted to land. The plane skidded along the runway before coming to a stop.

The runway was closed for two hours and was swept for debris before it was reopened, Gray said.

The pilot’s name was not released. Officials said he was from Kentucky and previously landed at the county airport. He was checked by an ambulance before leaving the scene.

Dylan Dietrich, a service line operator with airport, said he saw the incident. He called it an accident. Dietrich said the pilot did not radio to control with any issues prior to landing.

“He said he forgot to put the landing gear down,” Dietrich said.

Aside from a fatal crash in March, Gray said there were no additional incidents at the airport. Igor Novodran, 52, of Upper St. Clair, was practicing touch-and-go landings in his 1998 Avid Bandit fixed-wing plane when it crashed near the runway on the eastern side of the airport March 11. Crews removed him from the wreckage, and he was flown by medical helicopter to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, where he died.

Gray said the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate Wednesday’s crash landing. The plane remained intact. Gray said it was possible the runway pavement would need patched.

“No one was hurt,” Gray said. “Ultimately, that’s a good thing. Planes can be replaced.”