Veteran pilot circles airport for 90 minutes to burn fuel before
bringing plane down
Gilroy – The pilot of a single-engine plane escaped without a scratch after he crash landed at San Martin Airport Tuesday afternoon.
The pilot called about 12:15pm, citing mechanical problems with the landing gear and requested that fire and ambulatory services be on the ground when he landed, said South County Commander Lt. Dale Unger of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office.
Police closed the airport to all other aircraft about 1pm while San Jose resident Shoji Suzuki circled the Rockwell Commander AC-12 above the airport attempting to burn off most of the fuel.
“This is a scenario every pilot can expect,” Suzuki said from his San Jose home Tuesday evening. “As long as you follow emergency procedure, the airplane should be fine. But that is in theory. I found out today.”
According to police, the veteran pilot bounced the four-seater plane in the air during simulated landings in an effort to loosen the jammed wheel.
“Everything I heard was real calm and collected,” said a retired CDF employee who was listening to the scanner when the pilot called in. “In a situation like this there’s no reason for a pilot like this to get excited if he’s got decent flying time.”
Suzuki has both his commercial and private pilot’s license and 16 years of flying on his side.
“I just reminded myself what to do and to remain calm,” he said. “The people on the ground were very helpful.”
Individuals shopping at a fruit stand on San Martin Avenue stood in adjacent fields watching the small plane circling overhead.
“One of the wheels, you can tell it’s not all the way down. He’s just been circling and circling,” said Julie Castro, as she shaded her eyes and watched the plane. “He looks like he knows what he’s doing. I think he’s trying to burn the gas. Hopefully he’ll be able to walk away from this. I’m praying for him.”
After about 90 minutes of circling, the pilot landed the aircraft as three engines and a water tanker from California Department of Forestry and the South Santa Clara Fire District/CDF lined the runway. The nose of the plane tipped forward during landing due to a collapsed front wheel, but Suzuki escaped without injury.
“He did a fabulous job landing that aircraft,” Unger said. “I was very impressed.”
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office took a report of the incident for the FAA, but the National Transportation Safety Board will not initiate an investigation, he said.
“I’m safe on the ground,” Suzuki said laughing. “Now I can pretend to be calm.”
