A SIAI-Marchetti high-performance aircraft made a controlled crash landing at Fitchburg Municipal Airport in Massachusetts, on June 1, due to faulty landing gear.
All three people aboard, including two children aged 7 and 8 and the pilot, escaped unhurt.
The pilot circled for about half an hour to lose as much fuel as he could to avoid the possibility of fire in case of crash.
Firefighters from Fitchburg and Leominster placed fire engines on both ends of the runway and in the middle and had two ambulances ready to meet any emergency situation.
According to an eye witness and fellow pilot Loy Riley of Worcester, who has been a pilot for 30 years, “the landing was as good as they could have hoped for.”