San Diego

Student Pilot Apologizes for Causing Delays After Emergency Landing at Montgomery Field

The student pilot has been flying for four months.

A small plane made a safe emergency landing on just two wheels at Montgomery Field in Kearny Mesa.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Department firefighters were staged on the runway at around 2:45 p.m. Monday in response to reports of a plane with landing gear issues attempting to touch down.

The Piper PA-28-181 fixed-wing plane landed shortly after with only two of three landing wheels deployed.

"They gave me a call over the radio that one of the wheels was missing," said Ivan, a student pilot whose been flying for four months.

Ivan said he made a few loops around the airport but the wheel never came down, leaving him no option but to try and land the plane with two of three working landing wheels.

β€œWe always train for this but you hope that it’s never going to happen,” Ivan said. β€œYou just remember your training. That’s all. The more you think about it the worse it is. It’s just best to remember your training.”

Aside from a minor spinout at the end of the runway when the plane came to a stop, there were no apparent issues during the landing.

SDFD said no one was injured.

Ivan told NBC 7 he was very appreciative of the people in the control tower guiding him and the firefighters on the ground waiting to help him. He also apologized for any flight delays he may have caused.

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