Newcastle Airport: Cheers erupt as plane successfully makes emergency 'belly landing' after landing gear failed immediately after take-off

A small plane was forced to emergency land without its landing gear lowered at Newcastle airport in New South Wales, Australia. The plane had been circling above Newcastle for almost four hours with three people onboard, including the pilot, after discovering the mechanical issue after departing for a flight to Port Macquarie.

The authorities guided the aircraft down and it safely landed on its belly on Monday afternoon (13 May). More than a dozen crews including fire trucks, police, the State Emergency Service and ambulances at Newcastle airport were called to the incident.

A crowd of people watched the plane land with cheers erupting when the aircraft successfully landed on its belly without significant damage at about 12.20pm. The pilot and passengers walked away from the plane.

Supt Wayne Humphrey said the 53-year-old pilot from Queensland realised there was a mechanical issue after taking off. The pilot later determined the “landing gear would not come back down”. Humphrey said that after about 90 minutes of burning off fuel the pilot performed “a textbook wheels-up landing – which I was very happy to see”.

Newcastle airport was to remain closed for about 24 hours as recovery tasks were conducted. The flight was the most-watched service on major flight tracking websites on Monday morning with observers across the globe following the developments.

The incident involved a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air turboprop plane, which is normally configured to seat about 13 passengers, and flies private charter routes out of Eastern Air Services’ base in Port Macquarie. A NSW police spokesperson said authorities responded to reports of a plane with inoperative landing gear.

NSW police said in a statement: “About 9.30am today, emergency services were called to Newcastle airport following reports of an aircraft with mechanical issues. Officers attached Port Stephens Hunter police district are on scene. No further details are known at this stage.”