PUGET-52, (EA-6B, VAQ-129, Whidbey),
3 aboard unhurt in crash
A Navy EA-6B Prowler jet skidded off the runway after problems occurred with the landing gear at Colorado Springs Airport on Friday afternoon. It is unclear whether the weather contributed . A Navy saw a fragment come off the aircraft as it landed. (KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE)
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD - THE GAZETTE
Three Navy aviators were unhurt Friday when their plane veered off a runway during a refueling stop at Colorado Springs Airport.
The Grumman EA-6B Prowler, out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington, was landing around 12:40 p.m. and was about halfway down the runway when it went off the side and about 20 feet into a grassy area, said airport aviation director Mark Earle. The crew members got out of the plane on their own.
Earle said the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
Though it was raining heavily at the time, it was unclear whether the accident was weather-related
http://oascentral.gazette.com/RealM...x250new.gif/63663931643333653434393431313630? or caused by an equipment problem.
Earle said landing gear for one of the wheels collapsed, a tire was blown and a wing was damaged. “It appears that what happened to the landing gear occurred after it went off the runway,” he said.
The plane had flown from Grand Junction. Earle said there were a few minor flight delays of a few minutes each at the Colorado Springs airport after the mishap.
A Whidbey Island spokeswoman said the plane was headed to Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.
Peter Cantrup, a pilot from Española, N.M., landed about 15 minutes before the Navy crew.
“It was raining, at the time, cats and dogs,” said Cantrup, who was waiting in the private-plane terminal for the weather to clear. According to the National Weather Service, 0.64 inches of rain fell at the airport Friday — nearly as much as fell in all of May and the first half of June.
“When he landed, it looked like a boat,” Cantrup said.
He said he saw a fragment come off the plane when it touched down, and then the plane went off the runway. A van went to meet the crew members, who were running from it in the pouring rain, and took them to the terminal.
He said they were a little shaken but seemed fine.
After all, he said, there’s an old saying that any landing you walk away from is a good landing.
3 aboard unhurt in crash
A Navy EA-6B Prowler jet skidded off the runway after problems occurred with the landing gear at Colorado Springs Airport on Friday afternoon. It is unclear whether the weather contributed . A Navy saw a fragment come off the aircraft as it landed. (KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE)
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD - THE GAZETTE
Three Navy aviators were unhurt Friday when their plane veered off a runway during a refueling stop at Colorado Springs Airport.
The Grumman EA-6B Prowler, out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington, was landing around 12:40 p.m. and was about halfway down the runway when it went off the side and about 20 feet into a grassy area, said airport aviation director Mark Earle. The crew members got out of the plane on their own.
Earle said the Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident.
Though it was raining heavily at the time, it was unclear whether the accident was weather-related
http://oascentral.gazette.com/RealM...x250new.gif/63663931643333653434393431313630? or caused by an equipment problem.
Earle said landing gear for one of the wheels collapsed, a tire was blown and a wing was damaged. “It appears that what happened to the landing gear occurred after it went off the runway,” he said.
The plane had flown from Grand Junction. Earle said there were a few minor flight delays of a few minutes each at the Colorado Springs airport after the mishap.
A Whidbey Island spokeswoman said the plane was headed to Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.
Peter Cantrup, a pilot from Española, N.M., landed about 15 minutes before the Navy crew.
“It was raining, at the time, cats and dogs,” said Cantrup, who was waiting in the private-plane terminal for the weather to clear. According to the National Weather Service, 0.64 inches of rain fell at the airport Friday — nearly as much as fell in all of May and the first half of June.
“When he landed, it looked like a boat,” Cantrup said.
He said he saw a fragment come off the plane when it touched down, and then the plane went off the runway. A van went to meet the crew members, who were running from it in the pouring rain, and took them to the terminal.
He said they were a little shaken but seemed fine.
After all, he said, there’s an old saying that any landing you walk away from is a good landing.
