Plane lands with failed landing gear at JWA

Deepa Bharath

A single-engine airplane whose landing gear failed early Monday

managed to make a safe landing at John Wayne Airport, officials said.

The pilot of the Mooney M20J, a Laguna Niguel man, took off from John

Wayne and was flying to Van Nuys Airport, said Ann McCarley, spokeswoman

for JWA.

But he realized there was a problem when his indicator light came on,

so he returned to Orange County, she said.

“He landed on the commercial runway and knocked off two runway

lights,” she said. “We replaced those lights by Monday night.”

The runway was closed for about 22 minutes, but that closure caused

only minor delays, McCarley said. The plane sent out the call at 7:23

a.m. and landed at 8:34 a.m.

The pilot was not injured, but the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting

Department was waiting by the runway to offer help if needed, McCarley

said.

This was the second such incident at John Wayne Airport in the last

few days. On Friday, the pilot of a Cessna experienced similar landing

difficulties, McCarley said.

“He skidded on the runway and into a grassy area,” she said. “But

again, nobody was injured.”

Such incidents are not uncommon at John Wayne, McCarley said.

“In 2001, we had one incident when the pilot forgot to put the landing

gear down,” she said.