Small plane makes rough landing at El Monte Airport

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EL MONTE — A pilot walked away from a rough landing unharmed Thursday after a small airplane apparently lost engine power.
The incident was reported shortly after 6:30 p.m. at the airport, 4233 Santa Anita Ave.
“A single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza reportedly lost engine power and either crashed or made a forced landing at El Monte Airport,” Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The aircraft came to rest on its fuselage, with it’s landing gears either collapsed or not fully deployed.
The propeller of the airplane was bent, and according to initial reports from the scene, small amounts of fuel leaked onto the runway.
“The pilot was flying from Chino to Camarillo and diverted to El Monte after experiencing engine problems,” Gregor said. “He lost power and landed hard at 6:45 p.m.”
Based on the airplane’s tail number, it was registered to Bernard M. Diamond M.D. Inc. of Hidden Hills and was manufactured in 1976.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will are investigating, Gregor said.
“The NTSB investigator usually posts a basic preliminary report on the agency’s website, www.ntsb.gov, within a week or two of an accident,” he said. “However, it typically takes NTSB months to come up with a probable cause for accidents.”
El Monte City Manager Rene Bobadilla said he was grateful that the apparently distressed aircraft was able to make it to the airport.
“Thank God he was able to get to the airport and didn’t land on a school or a neighborhood. That would have been catastrophic,” he said.
PHOTO by Eric Reed, Staff Photographer
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