Sun, Dec 18, 2005
CNN, MSNBC, Fox Oddly Absent During Ordeal
The flight crew of a Cessna Citation 550 (file photo of
type, below) that briefly experienced landing gear trouble but
later landed uneventfully at Toledo Express Airport Friday may have
wondered "where are the cameras?"
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority spokesman Brian Schwartz told
the Toledo Blade the jet's pilot reported the problem to the
airport at 12:40 pm.
While the pilot and one unidentified passenger circled the
airport for approximately 90 minutes working to correct the
problem, the airport went on Level 1 emergency alert.
Several agencies, including the Springfield Township and Swanton
Township fire departments, Lucas County EMS, and the Ohio Highway
Patrol responded to the call -- and they all had prime seats to
watch as the Citation landed safely at approximately 2 pm, with all
three gear fully extended.
Schwartz said the Citation was taken to the airport's Cessna
service center to be thoroughly checked.
Somewhat notoriously absent from the scene were the television
cameras present during similar landing gear incidents earlier this
year -- specifically a similar stuck-gear incident November 21
involving a Gulfstream V bizjet, as well as the much-ballyhooed landing of a Jetblue
A320 in September with its nosegear canted 90 degrees
out of whack. In each of those cases, local news crews fed their
camera feeds of the circling jets to cable news channels, who
broadcast the images to the viewing public.
Both of those incidents also ended safely, with the G-5 crew
also able to successfully drop the gear and the pilot of the
stricken Airbus making a spectacular -- albeit fairly routine --
emergency landing in a shower of sparks (above).
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