A twin-engine turboprop plane made an emergency landing on its belly at Perth Airport on December 14.
The incident occurred at 10:40 local time on a flight carrying fly-in-fly-out workers from the Rothsay gold mine near Perth in Western Australia. In total, 11 people were on board. No one was injured.
“It’s understood the landing gear collapsed but a safe landing was completed,” Perth Airport said via Twitter.
At 1040 a twin turbo prop made an emergency landing at Perth Airport. It’s understood the landing gear collapsed but a safe landing was completed. 11 people on board with no reported injuries. Passengers’ health and care is our top priority. Main runway operations not affected.
— Perth Airport (@PerthAirport) December 14, 2021
Data from FlightAware shows the plane, a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 with registration VH-LKF, circled before landing on the airport’s cross runway.
A safety review was carried out before the cross runway was reopened on December 14, 2021, Perth Airport said. Operations on the airport’s main runway were not affected.
“It was a textbook crash”, one of the passengers told Nine News Perth, while another described the pilot as a “bloody champion, legend”.
The incident has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.