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A 53-year-old flight instructor was forced to make an emergency landing at Newscastle Airport in Australia's New South Wales after his Beech B-200 Super King suffered a landing gear malfunction. Peter Schott was flying two passengers from Newcastle to Port Macquarie when he noticed an issue with a landing gear a few minutes into the 26-minute flight.
Schott had to circle the airport for several hours to burn off fuel before he attempted a dangerous belly landing. While a belly landing is dangerous, Schott told 9News that it is a relatively simple procedure he taught his students how to do.
"I would have done this exercise for students, I don't know 200, 300 times, so it was quite textbook," he told 9News exclusively.
Once his plane had burned enough fuel, Schott safely landed, skidding along the tarmac until it came to a stop. Officials said that nobody was injured, and the two passengers were able to drive home after the scary incident.
"It was a great result, really well done by the pilot," NSW Police Superintendent Wayne Humphrey said. "I could hear him on the air, he sounded very calm to me."