Photo courtesy: Kristin Anderson/Vail Daily (November 17, 2009) |
EAGLE, Colo. - Commercial air operations will resume at the Eagle County Airport Wednesday morning while authorities work to determine why the nose gear of a U.S. Coast Guard plane collapsed during landing Tuesday.
The five-person crew was conducting training operations at the time of the accident, which occurred around 11:30 a.m., said Kris Friel, Eagle County communications director. The Coast Guard says crew members noticed an abnormal vibration in the nose landing gear before it collapsed.
They deployed a drogue chute that slowed down the aircraft, which stopped about 500 feet from the end of the runway.
The HU-25 Falcon aircraft slid roughly 1,000 feet before coming to a stop. No one was injured.
The accident forced the closure of a runway and commercial flights were delayed, Friel said.
The Falcon fleet uses the mountain airport for high-altitude training.
The five-person crew was conducting training operations at the time of the accident, which occurred around 11:30 a.m., said Kris Friel, Eagle County communications director. The Coast Guard says crew members noticed an abnormal vibration in the nose landing gear before it collapsed.
They deployed a drogue chute that slowed down the aircraft, which stopped about 500 feet from the end of the runway.
The HU-25 Falcon aircraft slid roughly 1,000 feet before coming to a stop. No one was injured.
The accident forced the closure of a runway and commercial flights were delayed, Friel said.
The Falcon fleet uses the mountain airport for high-altitude training.
