Holiday airport traffic at Santa Maria Airport was slowed Thursday after a small, twin-engine Beechcraft plane had to make a crash landing at the airport just before 10:30 a.m.
The pilot was the only occupant, and escaped the plane uninjured. Officials determined the crash landing was due to the planes gears being up. It isn’t known if it was faulty equipment or pilot error.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded quickly with three engine companies and an aircraft crash-rescue truck. The firefighters discovered a fuel leak, which was suppressed by foam sprayed by the firefighters. There was no fire.
One of the main runways was closed for several hours while the incident was being dealt with. Air traffic was sent to a shorter runway at the airport, according to Fire Capt. Eli Iskow.