Plane Carrying 3 People Lands Without Wheels After Suffering Mid-Air Mechanical Failure

The pilot, 53, was unable to deploy the aircraft's landing gear after it took off at a runway north of Sydney, Australia

Three people onboard a plane in Australia just survived a very close escape.

On Monday, May 13, the plane owned by Eastern Air Services (EAS) suffered a mid-air mechanical failure after taking off from the city of Newcastle, New South Wales which made it impossible for the pilot to deploy the aircraft's landing gear, reported ABC News.

The plane, which was originally heading for the city of Port Macquarie around 112-miles to the north, then had to make an emergency landing on a runway at Newcastle Airport north of Sydney.

Prior to this the pilot spent three hours circling the runway to burn off the plane's fuel to make it possible to land without wheels, reported NBC News and ABC News. The twin-turboprop Beechcraft Super King Air eventually landed at 12:20 p.m. local time, per the outlets.

PEOPLE has contacted Eastern Air Services for comment.

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Speaking at a press conference, New South Wales Police Superintendent Wayne Humphrey revealed that the 53-year-old pilot and his passengers, a 60-year-old man and 65-year-old woman, were unharmed in the incident and didn’t need to got to the hospital, per Sky News Australia.

“[There were] issues with a landing gear, as a result of that, the pilot — a 53-year-old Queensland man — decided to stay around the airport till he resolved the issue on the aircraft,” Humphrey explained. “As a result, he was determined the aircraft landing gear would not come back down and he stayed here and burned off fuel.”

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“He made a textbook wheels-up landing, which I was very happy to see,” Humphrey said, adding that there was a joint operation between the Royal Air Force News South Wales Police, ambulance and fire brigade.

The superintendent also went on to say the pilot “sounded very calm” while he was in the air.

According to 9News, the plane will be retrieved, forcing the airport to remain closed for around 24 hours. The outlet added that Eastern Air Services confirmed that the incident would be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

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