Plane's landing gear collapses after landing

MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College’s twin-engine plane was 100 yards from the end of the runway Tuesday morning when the left landing gear collapsed, causing it to slide  15 feet.

Assistant chief flight instructor John Gillespie, flight intermediate Constance Walker and a Big Bend student were aboard during the accident. None were injured.

“We had landed well and were coasting when the plane started slowing down substantially,” Gillespie said. “There’s scratched paint but not much other damage.”

The cause of the collapse is not known. Big Bend mechanics are reviewing the gear at the community college’s Flight Training Center. The building is located adjacent to the Grant County International Airport, where the incident occurred.

“We don’t know what the cause is at this point,” said Big Bend’s lead aviation mechanic Howard Temple. “We must look at everything in the landing gear system to determine what failed.”

This process could take awhile, Temple said.

This was the only twin-engine aircraft out of 25 planes at Big Bend.

“We are grateful that no one was injured and that the plane was already on the ground when the incident occurred,” said Big Bend President Bill Bonaudi.

The intent of the plane ride was for Gillespie to attain experience on instrumental procedures. Flight instructors are required to train every six months. Gillespie flew the plane, Walker was co-pilot and the student was there to observe.

“The student was there for a ride-along,” Gillespie said. “She handled everything extremely well and remained calm.”

Big Bend staff could not reveal the identity of the student because of Family Education Rights and Privacy Acts laws.

The college has a commercial pilot program, which allows students to receive their commercial pilot certificates along with their college degree.

Aviation students take the pilot seat during the first week of classes. Since most students take more than six quarters to complete the training, summer classes are scheduled each year, according to the college’s Web site.

The program had not experienced an accident with a plane for almost a decade, said director of public information Autumn Weis.

“Several years of training prepared me for this,” said Gillepsie, who has been a flight instructor for 20 years.

Gillepsie knew something was wrong when the aircraft lost electrical power in the air, he said.

“When there are electrical problems in a plane you can’t communicate over the radio,” Gillepsie said. “We had to watch the towers to land.”

Tower operators used a light gun to signal the plane.

After landing, the passengers exited and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Spokane was notified.

“NTSB categorized this event as an incident and authorized us to remove the plane from the runway,” said dean of professional and technical education Clyde Rasmussen.

The plane was moved by Columbia Pacific Aviation with a fork truck to the Flight Training Center.

NTSB is expected to perform a standard review of the incident within the week.