The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a crash landing that occurred Thursday morning, July 23, at Arkadelphia’s Dexter Florence Memorial Field.
The Arkadelphia Fire Department was dispatched to the south end of the runway at about 8:50 a.m. for a report of a plane that landed with its wheels still retracted in the landing gears, and that the aircraft was on its side in a grassy area off the runway. By the time first responders arrived, the pilot was already out of the plane. Pafford EMS responded and evaluated the pilot at the scene.
“He was bruised up a little bit, but he was in good shape for crashing a plane,” Fire Chief Andy Neel said. First responders were off the scene within an hour of the call.
The pilot was reportedly en route to Little Rock from Texarkana at the time of the incident. It wasn’t clear why the pilot attempted to land in Arkadelphia. The pilot was flying a Cessna 210 Centurion RG, a single-engine aircraft that features a retractable landing gear.
Citing the ongoing FAA investigation, the city’s top airport official was tight-lipped about the incident and directed inquiries to Town Hall.
The FAA typically posts preliminary reports on general aviation incidents and accidents on the following business day.
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