A plane with 3 aboard lands without landing gear at an Australian airport after burning off fuel

MELBOURNE: A light plane with three people aboard apparently landed safely without landing gear at Newcastle Airport on Monday after circling the airport for almost three hours to burn off fuel.

The twin-turboprop Beechcraft Super King Air had just taken off from the airport north of Sydney for a 180-kilometer (112-mile) flight north to Port Macquarie when the pilot raised the alarm about 9:30 a.m., Australian Broadcasting Corp. and police said.

The plane landed on the tarmac around three hours later apparently without incident, video showed.


Fire engines and ambulances were among emergency services standing at the ready.

A police statement said the plane had "mechanical issues," while ABC cited an unnamed police officer saying the landing gear had failed. The plane is owned by Port Macquarie-based Eastern Air Services. Eastern Air Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.