Hard Landing’ Damages Praetor

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Key Takeaways:

  • A Flexjet Embraer Praetor 500 bizjet made a "hard landing" at McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport in Georgia, resulting in the aircraft ending up on its wings on the grass.
  • Despite the aircraft likely being written off due to collapsed landing gear, all six passengers and two crew onboard were uninjured.
  • The incident, which occurred last week, is under investigation by authorities; strong winds (NE 17 gusting to 25 mph) were reported at the time.
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All the usual authorities are investigating a “hard landing” that may have written off a Flexjet Embraer Praetor 500 in Georgia last week. The bizjet was flying six passengers from Westchester County Airport in New York when it apparently slammed into Runway 04 at McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport and ended up sitting on its wings on the grass. Neither the passengers nor the two crew suffered any injuries.

Based on photos from the scene, it appears the right gear collapsed and the left gear poked through the top of the wing. According to Weather Underground, winds were NE 17 gusting to 25 at the time of the incident (2:36 p.m.) The plane is registered to Flexjet.

Russ Niles

Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.
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