Two passengers in a single-engine airplane escaped injury after part of the aircraft’s landing structure failed Friday afternoon at the St. George Municipal Airport.
Emergency response personnel were alerted to a plane crash at the north end of Runway 19 shortly before 5 p.m., but within 10 minutes they were informed they could cancel their response.
Airport Manager Rich Stehmeier said there were two passengers on board the Piper Arrow and that neither required medical attention, and there was no fire danger for the plane.
“It was a gear collapse. … There was minimal damage to the airplane,” Stehmeier said.
Stehmeier said he had already contacted the National Transportation Safety Board and federal officials had “released” the airplane, authorizing local personnel to remove the aircraft from the runway.
The only deadly crash at the airport’s current location occurred in May 2012 when four residents from St. George, Washington City and Santa Clara were killed immediately after takeoff during an after-midnight incident that was not observed by airport personnel.
The most recent deadly crash in Washington County occurred last May when a training flight originating at the airport crashed in the mountains south of Santa Clara. Two Northern Utah teens were killed a couple of months later in a plane crash in the Virgin River Gorge.
Weather conditions were reportedly clear at the time of all three incidents but gusty winds were reported at the time of the crash in the gorge.
Source: http://www.thespectrum.com