The Daytona Beach News-Journal — Here’s an American classic.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — As Jason Messenger flew a single-engine airplane a dozen feet above the runway, a man in a Jeep speeding alongside reached out with a pole and tugged the plane’s faulty right landing gear into its proper position.
After borrowing a pole from firefighters and using it to nudge the landing gear into locked position, rescuers cheer as the plane lands safely.
In an hourlong ordeal that resembled a scene from an action-adventure movie, cool flying and steady driving prevented a potential tragedy at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport on Friday morning
I hate to put a damper on great TV footage, but pilots aren’t universally happy about these “heroics.”
The rescue can be more dangeous than just landing the plane on its belly. One day soon one or more guys in the vehicle are going to be killed or injured. There’s a spinning prop just a few feet away from the head of the guy grabbing for the gear, especially with a twin.
A belly landing would usually just mean some scratched paint unless there’s a prop strike, where it requires an engine teardown. The people on the plane usually will walk away with little injury.
Discussion of this incident by pilots is here
–“Pilot Mike”