Pilot forgot to lower landing gear

By JAMES-CLIFTON SPIRES/Senior Staff Writer

MIDDLESBORO — Welcome to Middlesboro.

Thomas Lepsch had never been to “the city inside a crater” before he arrived at the Middlesboro/Bell County Airport on Thursday — and he certainly didn’t expect his arrival to be quite as dramatic, either.

Flying his Bonanza Beechcraft N22PK — a small aircraft he has owned and been flying since 1985 — Lepsch, a 50-year-old Kingsport, Tenn., radiologist, crash-landed his plane on the airport runway, skidding a few hundred feet before coming to a stop. Shaken, but uninjured, Lepsch walked away from the accident, realizing that he had landed without releasing the landing gear.

“I’d never been at this airport before,” said Lepsch as he, along with local news media, snapped pictures of his plane as it was being attached to a tow truck. “There’s a routine you go through as you prepare for a landing. I was distracted by another plane taking off and simply forgot to lower the landing gear.”

“It was pilot error,” he admitted sheepishly.

Lepsch said there seemed to be minimal damage to the plane, mostly to its underside. He said he doesn’t recall any moments of panic during the crash, because he was very focused on trying to maintain control of the skidding plane and turning off the fuel valve.

“There was a moment when I saw smoke and sparks when I thought of my four children and thought to myself that I wasn’t ready for them to be without a father,” he said. “I thought, ‘I sure hope I don’t go up in a ball of fire.’”

Lepsch credited local airport personnel and police and fire department emergency responders for a very quick response and helping him make arrangements to clear away his damaged plane.

An experienced pilot and fishing enthusiast, Lepsch said he has never been in such a situation before. He said his purpose for flying over the area was “to scout out some good fishing sites.”

“I almost decided to drive up today,” he said. “But after the storm front cleared up, it looked like a beautiful day for flying.”

James-Clifton Spires is senior staff writer for the Daily News. His e-mail address is jcspires@middlesborodailynews.com.