Crash-landing at airport causes little disruption

ALBANY – A Monday morning crash-landing of a small plane at the Southwest Georgia Regional Airport that left the pilot uninjured caused little disruption to operations. and personnel were able to maintain normal flights using a secondary runway.

The rough landing for the Thrush Aircraft plane caused a fuel leak that could have posed a risk to the pilot, but the on-site Airport Safety force was able to deal with the hazard, Albany Transportation Director David Hamilton said.

“Our guys spread foam on the fuel,” he said. “We had a lot of people respond.”

The plane came to a rest in the grass about 15 feet off the main runway at the airport when the plane lost its landing gear, the director said.

The city held a disaster drill simulating a plane crash in April, and that training was evident on Monday, Hamilton said.

“It really did pay off,” he said. “All the emergency response crews responded in a timely manner. It was like a real-time exercise. Our event earlier this year really did pay off. I know the pilot was really shaken up about it. We were fortunate nobody was injured.”

Delta flights were able to land and take off on a second runway, and after getting permission from the National Transportation Safety Board, personnel were able to remove the plane.

There was slight damage to some of the pavement from the incident, Hamilton said, but that damage was repaired and the runway is back in use.

“There was nothing major at the airport,” Hamilton said. “We’re back in full operation.”