Emergency Landing Closes Norfolk International For Several Hours

A 60-year-old Soviet Yak 3M fighter (file photos of type, below) experiencing landing gear problems made a belly landing Saturday at Norfolk (VA) International Airport, closing two main runways and forcing diversions and cancellations of flights to and from the airport.

The airport was closed for three hours following the incident at approximately 1 pm Saturday afternoon, while workers cleared the wreckage. The pilot of the Yak, Jack Shultz, was not injured in the landing, said airport manager Wayne Shank to the Associated Press.

Shank said he hoped passengers inconvenienced by the incident would understand. "Bottom line, we have a pilot who was able to save himself and there were no injuries," he said. "That’s a huge plus."

According to media reports, Shultz had just finished participating in an air show at nearby Hampton Roads Executive Airport and was attempting to land there when he realized there was a problem with the landing gear.

"It lurched" on landing, Shultz said. “I was going straight at the crowd."

Fortunately, Shultz was carrying enough power to initiate a go-around. Once the Yak was safely back up in the air, the airplane's owner, Art Nalls Jr., was able to fly alongside Shultz's aircraft in his Czech L-39 Albatross trainer to scope out the problem.

The two pilots determined the Yak's right maingear had broken and spun sideways, causing it to fail to lock in the down position. That was the bad news. The good news was, the gear would likely fold up during landing, allowing the option for a belly landing.

Shultz made the decision to divert to Norfolk International, with its longer runways and accessibility to emergency services. After flying over the field for approximately thirty minutes to burn off fuel, Shultz shut down the engine and glided to the runway.

The damaged gear folded up exactly as anticipated, and Shultz was able to maintain directional control with the rudder to keep the plane tracking straight down the centerline.

"There was a lot of clangin’ and bangin'," Shultz said after the incident. "Getting it down was the easy part. You sort of leave it up to God after that. You say, 'OK, help me.'"

"It was a good landing," Shultz added.

The Yak, nicknamed "Red Heat," was remarkably unscathed from the incident -- although repairing the damaged gear, scraped belly and bent propeller will still likely cost as much as $70,000 to fix, Nalls said. It is only one of a handful of Yak 3s still flying.

As soon as repairs are completed, Shultz will be back in the pilot's seat.

"It was a great fighter," he said, "and it flies great."

FMI: www.warbirdalley.com/yak3.htm