The Santa Barbara Airport was briefly shuttered Thursday due to an incident involving a small Cessna plane.
The plane damaged a wing when it experienced a hard landing Thursday at about 11:20 a.m., causing the aircraft to “corkscrew around,” Santa Barbara City Fire Battalion Chief Robert Mercado told the News-Press.
The runway was closed for about an hour until the plane could be cleared, Angi Daus, an airport spokesperson, told the News-Press.
There were two passengers on the plane, and neither were injured. Ms. Daus said the pilot was very experienced and “did a great job in the circumstances.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were contacted, and the federal agencies gave the all-clear for the airport to reopen to arriving and departing flights later Thursday, Ms. Daus said.
Airport operations had resumed by Thursday afternoon with most arrivals and departures online, according to the airport’s real-time schedule.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
