NEDERLAND, Texas — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now investigating what caused a small plane to have to make a hard landing at Jack Brooks Regional Airport Tuesday afternoon.
A call came in saying that a small airplane had lost a portion of its landing gear over North 34th St. in Nederland around 5:15 p.m. on July 25, 2023.
The small plane had radio contact with the air traffic control tower at the airport according to a news release from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
A pilot and student pilot were onboard the plane doing a lesson to and from the airport when the incident occurred.
CEO of KUSA Aviation, LLC Kyle Knupple tells 12News the plane's instructor handled everything perfectly and is grateful nobody was hurt.
"It was 100% text book response to a surprise and unknown situation. No injuries and minimal damage resulting in the aircraft," he said.
Knupple says the instructor and student actually did not know they had a gear issue until they attempted to land.
But, the instructor was able to safely touch down with out a left landing gear.
Jack Brooks Airport Director Alex Rupp says the student pilot made a rough landing earlier in the day, which he believes may have damaged part of the plane's landing gear.
Knupple responded to that claim.
"It's a training aircraft within our fleet, it makes landings all day everyday, there was no landing rougher than any other rough landing experience when instructing students to fly," Knupple said.
KUSA is helping local authorities and the FAA with their investigation.
"To determine structural component integrity as well as any actions leading up to yesterdays events that could have impacted any of the components that were involved in the failure," Knupple said.
Once the FFA completes its' investigation, the findings will be made public.
Knupple says planes are inspected frequently and the "piper warrior" plane in Tuesday's flight showed no signs of malfunction prior to takeoff.
Homeowner Paul Hussey previously told 12News he didn't see the plane, but he heard it.
"All of a sudden I heard what sounded like an explosion, and I mean an impact explosion, and it stunned me," Hussey said.
Hussey says he was outside his home talking on the phone when he heard the loud noise.
"We live in with refineries all around us, first thing that comes to your mind is some sort of explosion. Maybe it was a car tire," he said.
The loud noise was actually the tire that fell off the small plane and into his yard.
"As I got closer to it, I realized it was plane tire, and then I looked over to my right, and I could see what would be a rim a rotor to the tire. Then, I could see hydraulic hoses and disc brakes over in the middle of my yard," Hussey said.
Hussey is grateful to God nobody got hurt.
"We lived around this airport for years and never had anything like this happen. This is not common," Hussey said.
Anyone who finds parts believed to belong to the plane are encouraged to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at 409-835-8668.
From a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office news release:
This afternoon around 5:15 p.m. 911 calls came in regarding a small airplane that had lost a portion of its landing gear over 34th street in Nederland, Texas. The small plane had radio contact with the air traffic control tower at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport. The pilot was able to make an emergency landing at the airport. No injuries are reported. Jack Brooks Regional Airport Manager Alex Rupp advised that the FAA has been notified and at this time, the airport remains closed. If anyone finds parts believed to belong to the plane, please contact Jefferson County Sheriff's Office-Texas at 409-835-8668. This was a multi-agency response with Nederland PD, Nederland FD, Airport FD and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.