The sky was azure, and the runway was unobstructed. Yet, under a dual-engine Cessna that had not taken flight in 25 years, something was amiss last Thursday at Arlington Municipal Airport.
it wasn’t good.
“When we extended the landing gear, we heard a loud explosion,” stated Tony Williams, a veteran airline pilot and ex-air traffic controller with 39 years of experience in aviation.
That explosion indicated just one thing: the left landing gear was not deploying.
Williams stated, “You capture the sound,” and inwardly concluded, “This likely won’t turn out well.”
However, Williams, who is 63 years old, understood what needed to be accomplished. When WFAA conducted an exciting emergency landing at the airport recently, he was the one piloting. Without functioning landing gears, it posed no challenge for Williams; he smoothly guided the aircraft onto its underbelly after detecting the mechanical issue.
“He mentioned it was still a wise decision, ‘and without hesitation, I would make the same choice once more,’” he stated.
Williams wasn’t flying solo. There was a safety copilot beside him, and this was their first time flying together as a team. Additionally, Williams is over three times older than the copilot.
I was in the right seat alongside Tony,” stated 19-year-old Ben Taylor, a pilot for only two years from North Texas. “While I have experienced some frightening incidents before, nothing has come even remotely close to what we encountered.
Certain upkeep tasks had been carried out on the vintage aircraft, and they were conducting multiple trials aimed at concluding with a safe touchdown in Pennsylvania for a pal and recent purchaser. However, it ended up coming to rest directly in Arlington instead.
Three practice approaches followed by immediate takeoffs were scheduled, where the plane would land on the runway and immediately lift off again without stopping completely. During the third attempt, Williams noticed that the left landing gear had not deployed, and air traffic control verified this issue.
Williams contacted the control tower for foam on the runway, just in case a fire added to the litany of issues.
“The gentler I managed the touchdown, the lesser the effect it would have on us,” he stated.
They orbited the airport before proceeding with their plan.
It was smoother than most of my landings with wheels,” Taylor stated. “Big ups to Tony; he’s an excellent pilot, and we surprisingly had a blast up there.
Now millions have viewed what Williams succinctly called, “It appeared fantastic. Even I was impressed when watching the footage.”
It’s unlikely that the Cessina will take flight again. However, this situation was never really about the aircraft itself.
“He essentially held my hand throughout the entire process,” Taylor explained.
For Williams, success didn’t come from luck.
“We’re simply concentrating on completing the task at hand.”
Taylor concurred: “That’s exactly how it ought to be managed.”
Inside a silent cockpit — over a tranquil runway — merely two pilots executing their prepared duties.
Although the landing gear failed to deploy, they managed to do so.
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