Local

Plane belly lands at Greene County airport

Pilot error is being blamed for a belly landing at the Greene County-Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport, said Sgt. Jim Slusher, Ohio Highway Patrol post in Xenia.

The 54-year-old pilot from Lebanon was not injured in the accident, which occurred just before 4 p.m. at the airport on North Valley Road, the sergeant said. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, he said.

Slusher said that according to the preliminary investigation, the pilot was in a 1981 Piper Arrow performing a training maneuver to simulate an engine failure, which involves a low-power 180-degree turn and landing approach.

“He just failed to engage the landing gear,” Slusher said. “It was pilot error.”

There was no fire and there was minimal damage done to the plane, he said, noting that the propeller was damaged but the plane likely to be back in operation within a month.

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