P180 Belly Landing at HPN this Morning - Was it Avantair?

[greygoose]

Stweart-Newburgh KSWF

2 runways
11,818 feet and 6006 feet long, both 150 feet wide.

Air Guard flies C-130s and C-5s out of it.


33 Miles from HPN, just up the Hudson on the western side of the river.

If I had to put one down gear up Id want the longest runway I could find.

Listening to you all rant about chosing a not so busy airport. An aircraft in distress recieves prioity over any other traffic.
You would want an airport with a longer runway? I don't think a plane landing on its belly is going to use up more runway then if its gear were down. Looking at the pictures on the other website it looks to me like the airplane stopped in less then 1500' by the runway markings.

 

[sperfly]

There are some emergencys that require imediate action and others that don't, If you lost your attitude indicator on top of IMC would you land at the nearest airport that was perhaps below mins just because it was the nearest or would you continue to VMC conditions. I'm sure the airplane didn't just fall out of the sky because the gear didn't come down, and they were in the northeast where there are like more than a few airports. Bottom line is they did a great job on the landing kudos to them and in all honesty who gives a sh!t if they ruined someones day due to a delay.

 

[Dilligaff]

Listening to you all rant about chosing a not so busy airport. An aircraft in distress recieves prioity over any other traffic.
You would want an airport with a longer runway? I don't think a plane landing on its belly is going to use up more runway then if its gear were down. Looking at the pictures on the other website it looks to me like the airplane stopped in less then 1500' by the runway markings.

Actually, they used up most of the runway and stopped about 1500' short of the end of 16. They shutdown the engines and feathered the props before landing and therefore they didn't have the drag from windmilling props on landing so they floated a long way down the runway. From the pics on the other website, it appears that they touched down just before taxiway F and stopped next to K. Regardless, they still did a great job.

 

[Going2Golf]

Listening to you all rant about chosing a not so busy airport. An aircraft in distress recieves prioity over any other traffic.
You would want an airport with a longer runway? I don't think a plane landing on its belly is going to use up more runway then if its gear were down. Looking at the pictures on the other website it looks to me like the airplane stopped in less then 1500' by the runway markings.

Having had to deal with a gear problem in the past, nose gear wouldnt lock in place. My personal preference is to try to put it down on the longest chunk of concrete that I can.

The crew did a fantastic job dealing with what they had to, Im sure they talked to MX Control before making their decision on where to put it on the ground after flying around in circles for awhile.

Again its just personal opinion on where I would have gone in that situation.

Goose, my original post was in reply to somoene elses querry about what other airports were close by.

I never have, nor will I ever second guess anyone for the decision that they made in an emergency.

 

[Bugsmasher Plus]

Well, well, is this another Avantair accident? I heard it was one of their Piaggios. Nobody's talking, could this possibly be another of Avantair's maintenance issue cover-ups????
Glad to hear the pilots were unharmed. Sadly it's probably a matter of time until a serious accident occurs with that company. Management have most likely already linched the pilots and hidden the aircraft. It'll be back on line once everyone's stopped talking, maybe even with a band-aid or two.
Anyone heard any more?

heard it was a hydraulic issue.
anybody hear anything else?

 

[Minimaniac]

To the genius who thinks this crew should have gone to SWF as opposed to HPN because of everyone else's convenience... how convenient would it be to shut down the runway of a military-use airfield during a time of war? Sure, it is a small scale war now, but we are at war nonetheless, and our nation's list of potential enemies is not short.
This isn't a politically minded tirade here... just trying to point out that this crew was going to cause problems wherever they put down. Lets at least guve them a tip of the hat for choosing to land at a field with crash-fire-rescue, and for managing their situation so as to not need them.
The FARs state an aircraft in distress has top priority. And if memory serves, airline and corporate passengers don't even make the list.

 

[say again]

The did a great job! They landed safely, and nobody was hurt. Honestly, if I had an emergency, I wouldn't give a rats a$$ who I might inconvenience by closing an airport. Nearest suitable is exactly that, and this crew choose HPN. I dont feel for those who were delayed, you'll live!!!!:beer:

 

[glasspilot]

The people complaining here are not upset that they closed a passenger airport, they're complaining that they closed THEIR passenger airport. They (the complainers) would have been fine if they went to JFK or LGA cause then it's someone else's inconvenience. Of course then we'd be listening to a whole new bunch of guys complain and more of 'em.

Good job to the crew. Screw the armchair quarterbacks.

 

[Bugsmasher Plus]

The people complaining here are not upset that they closed a passenger airport, they're complaining that they closed THEIR passenger airport. They (the complainers) would have been fine if they went to JFK or LGA cause then it's someone else's inconvenience. Of course then we'd be listening to a whole new bunch of guys complain and more of 'em.

Good job to the crew. Screw the armchair quarterbacks.

the crew did what they had to do with the emergency, but whas caused the gear to not come down, I heard hydraulics, but nobody is talking

 

[skiandsurf]

the crew did what they had to do with the emergency, but whas caused the gear to not come down, I heard hydraulics, but nobody is talking

I heard it was some type of problem.