Runways shut down after small plane lands on belly at Daytona Beach airport
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Two people are safe after officials say a non-commercial plane made a hard landing at Daytona Beach International Airport on Thursday.
According to the airport, the small plane landed on its belly around 12:45 p.m. Two people were on board the Cessna Citation Mustang at the time. No one was injured.
Dramatic video shared by Yelvington Jets shows the jet skidding down the runway with a trail of fire and smoke flowing behind it. Dethel Mateo says he stopped what he was doing when he the jarring sound.
Plane makes hard landing at Daytona Beach airport
Two people are safe after officials say a non-commercial plane made a hard landing at Daytona Beach International Airport on Thursday. According to the airport, the small plane landed on its belly around 12:45 p.m. Two people were on board the Cessna Citation Mustang at the time. No one was injured.
“As soon as I heard that big scrape on the runway, I looked and I saw a jet that didn’t have the gears down. I figured something was wrong and then I saw the flames going down the runway,” said Mateo.
Daytona Beach International Airports Fire Department rushed in behind the Cessna Citation Mustang and started dousing it with foam as soon as the aircraft came to a full stop. The two occupants could be seen running from the burning plane.
“It’s surreal. I don’t see that every day. Especially a jet like that,” said Mateo.
Daytona Beach International Airport shut down both their runways, canceling some outgoing flights and diverting incoming flights to other nearby airports.
Their spokesperson said both occupants are okay. A crane was used to lift the aircraft onto a flatbed truck to be towed off.