‘Quiet, great pilot’: No one was injured when air taxi landing gear collapsed in Anchorage

Shannon Jones, who landed in Anchorage with five other passengers on a Dena’ina Air Taxi flight on Tuesday, was unaware that the plane’s front landing gear was malfunctioning.

But Jones, a school principal traveling from the village of Koliganek in southwest Alaska for a conference, knew something was wrong when the plane flew low over Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and then began circling.

Dena’ina Air Taxi identified the pilot as Doug Ferguson, a veteran aviator who flew his final flight for the company Tuesday before retiring.

According to Josh Jacko, president and owner of Dena’ina Air Taxi, Ferguson flew the Beechcraft King Air over the airport to give ground crew a visual confirmation of the landing gear’s status. Ferguson also told company officials that a possible emergency had occurred during the flight, he said.

The pilot “went through all emergency checklists more than once” and then informed passengers that they “may land with the landing gear not fully extended,” Jacko said in an email Wednesday. “That takes time, so circling above us.”

Jones said Ferguson warned passengers that the flight would be a bit bumpy upon landing.

Still, she said, everything was surprisingly “normal” until the last moment. No injuries or fuel leaks were reported, authorities said. In a prepared statement, airport officials called the pilot’s “skillful handling of the emergency situation” key to avoiding a more serious outcome.

“He was a very calm, great pilot,” Jones said.

Ferguson, who has been flying for Dena’ina and TransNorthern Aviation for five years, has 46 years of Alaska flying experience and more than 26,000 flight hours, Jacko said.

“He’s great,” he said.

The flight departed from Merrill Field and made stops in Pedro Bay, Koliganek and Ekwok before returning to Anchorage.

The emergency landing response began just before 3 p.m. Tuesday when airport police and fire departments responded to Runway 7L for a report of the incoming aircraft that “reported landing gear issues,” said department spokesman Cpl. Steve Heilman. The airport’s aircraft rescue and firefighting units were searching nearby for possible injuries or fuel leaks, he said.

The crews, waiting for a possible disaster, said the pilot’s flying skills and calm demeanor saved the day, Heilman said. “He spun the props and rode the back wheel as long as he could.”

Then, when the front end of the plane finally touched down, the nose gear collapsed, he said.

Jones said the landing felt almost normal until the front dropped and then a skid began.

“It was almost like slow motion,” she remembers. “Oh, we look at the sky and then slowly at the ground. He did great. It was for the textbook thing. If he had done something differently, who knows what the result would have been.”

The pilot, six passengers and a dog in a crate all exited the plane safely, authorities said.

Heilman said there were no fuel leaks and no injuries were reported.

Dena’ina Air Taxi ensured the aircraft was moved from the runway to its hangar without causing any further damage to the aircraft or the runway, according to an update from the airport police and fire departments.

It was not immediately clear what caused the landing gear to fail. Jacko said the company is still investigating.

Jones, who like many rural Alaskans has to fly every few months, said she was returning home on Sunday on another Dena’ina Air Taxi flight.

“He did a great job,” she said of Ferguson. “I will fly with the same company. It’s just part of life out here.”