Dothan, AL-There were some anxious feelings on the ground Friday morning at the Dothan Regional Airport. At around 9:30 emergency personnel received word that an approaching plane could not deploy its landing gear.

“We’ve never experienced anything quite like this before,” say Colonel Kevin Christensen, commander of the 110th Aviation Brigade at Fort Rucker.

Two Army Chief Warrant Officers and a Flight Saftey Instructor Pilot were training on a Beechcraft Barron when they had a problem. Both main landing gears were functioning normally, but the front landing gear would not extend and lock properly. They were forced to land without it.

“Nice smooth landing. It’s something that they practice and train at all the time in our simulation. They were able to execute that flawlessly,” says Christensen.

While the conditions were definitely not ideal, training leaders say the instructor and students were prepared.

Christensen says, “I know that by listening to them on the radio, absolutely nothing but professionalism and confidence is what I got over the radio. No sense of concern or panic. They simply executed the procedures as they were trained to do it.”

“This is probably the most realistic practice drill they’ve done. They obviously had a situation that was real world. It’s not something that’s happened before, but it’s something they’ve practiced,” says Lisa Eichhorn, Public Affairs Officer at Fort Rucker.

Not only were the students and pilot prepared, the Dothan Regional Airport constantly trains for emergencies like this one.

“Only a daily basis we have several FAA regulations and airport regulations that we have to follow in terms of testing our equipment and making sure it’s always ready to respond,” says Jennifer Doherty, Dothan Regional Airport Spokesperson.

Everyone walked away unharmed.
The runway was closed for less than an hour.
The incident didn't impact any private or commercial operations.

This was the third day the students had been training on the Barron Aircraft.