Teen student pilot avoided disaster on first solo flight after being forced to land plane without landing gear
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: ABC News
A 17-year-old pilot was able to land her plane on her first solo flight despite it not having functioning landing gear.
In 2018, Maggie Taraska had been setting off on her first solo flight from Beverly in Massachusetts to Portland in Maine.
But shortly after she took off people on the ground noticed that a piece of the landing gear had fallen off.
They radioed Maggie in the air to tell her she had lost the landing gear, beginning a nerve-wracking experience as she returned to the airport.
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Radio from her approach shows her communicating with her instructor John Singleton who guided her down.
During the audio, Singleton confirmed Maggie was okay before beginning to help her land safely.
Singleton reassured Maggie, telling her: “OK, you're doing a great job flying the airplane. Keep doing what you're doing."
Maggie circled the airport for half an hour before finally making the approach and successfully landing the plane without the landing gear, and emerging unharmed.
When the aircraft touched down successfully, he told her that she had 'people clapping' in the control tower.
Traffic from the airport was also suspended temporarily to allow Maggie, who had been flying for three years, to land safely. Watch below:
Speaking to ABC News after her incredible feat, Maggie said: "I got really scared, nervous, obviously.
"I had done emergency procedures before, but you don't do them if you lose a wheel. No one really thinks that's going to happen to them. And I mean, I was all by myself so I was just terrified."
She added: "I couldn't have done it alone, without a doubt."
The pilot explained that despite feeling afraid she had confidence in her abilities, and knew she had to keep a cool head.
She said: "You have to have confidence in your ability if you're going to be a pilot so I knew that I had practiced emergency procedures plenty of times and I knew that if I tried my best and I kept a cool head, there would be the best outcome possible."
Her mom Christine, an Air Force veteran, admitted she had felt nervous.
She told ABC News: “It's nerve-wracking to see your kid up there and you're helpless and just hoping for the best that everything would work out."
Maggie revealed that she hoped to go to the US Air Force Academy and follow both of her parents' footsteps.
Shortly after the incident, the Twitter account account for the USAF Academy retweeted Boston Globe coverage of her escapade.
The academy wrote: "Maggie, if you haven't decided on a college yet, we might know the perfect place for you!"