Plane lands without landing gear at Hector; pilot unhurt

FARGO – Crews are cleaning up an airport runway here after a plane made a belly landing at Fargo’s Hector International Airport.

A lone pilot was the only person on the plane. He was not injured, said Assistant Fire Chief Leroy Skarloken.

The Fargo Fire Department was called to a northeastern runway at the Hector International Airport about 7:30 tonight after reports of the plane’s landing gear not working.

“(The plane) bellied down into the runway,” Skarloken said.

The exact malfunction of the landing gear is not yet known.

Skarloken said the private plane was a type of Beechcraft Bonanza, with four to six seats for passengers.

The pilot was able to walk away from the crash and without destroying the plane, Skarloken said.

“Seems like he brought it in pretty well,” he said.

Although there was some debris on the runway, which Skarloken said will be cleaned off, the airport was not shut down.

All flights were listed as departing and arriving on time, according to the airport website.