Photo Credit: SEAN McCOY
An airplane sits on a taxiway at King Airport on Monday after its nose gear collapsed on landing.
Photo Credit: SEAN McCOY
ST. THOMAS - A twin-engine Piper Aztec aircraft was arriving at King Airport about 12:20 p.m. with three people on board when the landing gear failed and the plane had to make an emergency landing.
"An aircraft was landing when the nose gear collapsed," Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
Bergen said no injuries were reported.
V.I. Port Authority spokeswoman Monifa Marrero said the runway was closed from 12:21 p.m. to 1:28 p.m. and several flights were affected.
King Airport Manager Jose Nazario said the Piper Aztec aircraft was arriving from St. Maarten and carrying three men - one crew member and two passengers - at the time of the incident.
V.I. Port Authority's aircraft rescue and fire fighters responded to the incident, and law enforcement officers provided support. Firefighters sprayed down the section of runway where the plane landed with a fire-suppressant foam.
"A small amount of fuel spilled onto the runway," Marrero said.
A Cape Air flight scheduled to arrive from San Juan at 12:20 p.m. was delayed but arrived about 1:25 p.m. A second Cape Air flight scheduled to depart St. Thomas for San Juan at 2:15 p.m. also was delayed, but Marrero did not know what the final departure time was. A LIAT flight from St. Maarten, scheduled to arrive at 12:45 p.m., arrived at 2:30 p.m. Monday.
A Seaborne Airlines flight from St. Croix to St. Thomas, scheduled to land at 1:30 p.m., was cancelled, Marrero said.
The Piper Aztec, with number N2589Z, was manufactured in 1980 and is registered to Ace Flight Center.
Calls to Ace Flight Center were not returned by press time.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 2589Z Make/Model: PA23 Description: PA-23-150/160 Apache
Date: 12/05/2011 Time: 1621
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Minor
LOCATION
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON LANDING, GEAR COLLAPSED, CHARLOTTE-AMALIE, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 3 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: VFR
OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: SOUTH FLORIDA, FL (SO19) Entry date: 12/06/2011
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