"Michael" wrote in message om...
Dave S wrote
Plane lands in field near runway

A two-engine plane landed on its belly in a grassy field next to the
runway at Weiser Air Park in northwest Harris County on Saturday. The
pilot was able to land the plane after the left-wing wheel fell off,
according to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department. No one was injured
in the landing.

KEYQ in Houston is Weiser

Believe less of what you read.

The plane was the rare and unusual Twin Cherokee. Well, not really.
It was a flight school Warrior. The left main simply fell off one
fine day. Those of you familiar with the gear system will know that
the scissors assembly contains three bolts. Two of them are
castle-nutted and cotter-pinned. Loss of any one of them will be
sufficient to lose the gear assembly on takeoff, which is exactly what
happened. We won't discuss why the bolt(s) departed. It's a rental.

The pilot (CFI) landed on the crossing grass strip, which is
designated emergency use only, on the advice of another pilot - sort
of an elder statesman on the airport. I personally do not concur with
that advice - I would have opted for pavement for all the reasons
already given in this thread - but I wasn't on the radio. I was
standing by with a fire extinguisher in a truck by the end of the
runway in case the fire department didn't show.

The pilot (CFI) also elected to land flaps up, on the advice of the
same pilot. What I think of that suggestion (offered on base at that)
does not bear repeating, but once again I was not in a position to do
anything.

The pilot (CFI) did an EXCELLENT job. He burned most of the fuel out
of the left tank. The landing was made at minimum airspeed (for flaps
up), the mixture was pulled in the flare, and the left wing (the one
without the gear) was kept as light as possible as long as possible.
When the plane got too slow to keep the left wing up, it dropped into
the grass and the plane skidded around about 90 degrees to the left.
There was minor damage to the left flap and that was about it, as far
as I can tell.

A mechanic was standing by with the gear. We lifted the wing, he
popped in the gear, and the plane was towed to the shop. Then
everyone went home, and I went flying.

I don't see why there would be an NTSB report at all. The damage to
the plane was minor, and all of the sort specifically excluded from
the definiion of significant damage.

Michael

How did they know the wheel fell off?