Pilot grateful no one hurt in landing on Lana'i

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Islands Editor

Kaua'i veterinarian and private pilot Scott Sims said he had no idea the landing gear on his single-engine plane had failed to fully deploy before landing at the Lana'i airport Thursday afternoon.

Sims, 48, said he had heard and felt the gear go down and checked the gauge, but what he didn't know was that only one of the two rear wheels had deployed and that the front wheel was not in place.

The 1948 Beechcraft Bonanza with Sims and four passengers aboard made a hard landing and skidded 35 feet off the runway. The plane's propeller and a wing tip were damaged, but no one was injured.

"It was a bit of a thrill ride, but we were going very slow," Sims said yesterday.

The incident just before 1 p.m. closed the Lana'i runway for two hours. At least one commercial flight, an Island Air plane, was diverted from Lana'i to another airport, said Toby Wakumoto, a spokesman with the state Department of Transportation.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said the mishap would be classified an "incident" rather than an "accident."

Sims, owner of Pegasus Veterinary Clinic in Kilauea, Kaua'i, said that he got his pilot's license in 1974 and that the plane, which he acquired five years ago, never gave him any trouble till now.

"It's been absolutely fabulous. I love that plane," he said.

He had taken off from Lihu'e, Kaua'i, with two friends and their two guests from the Mainland, and stopped at Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, before heading to Lana'i. They were planning to return to Kaua'i after a stop on Lana'i , but ended up having to take a commercial flight home.

"We had a long, exciting day," Sims said. "The important thing is that no one was hurt."

Sims said he was still figuring out how to get his plane repaired and back to Kaua'i.