A Perfect Landing

Back in the late 1960’s a Kenora, Ontario airline had two Grumman Goose airplanes they used for flying passengers. They were twin engine amphibian aircraft used mainly on the lakes but they had retractable wheels which allow them to land on a runway. This capability allowed them to pick up passengers at a regular airports and then fly them to remote lakes for fishing and hunting. The wheels were simply raised or lowered in flight, as the situation required.

It was mid summer and the pilot took off early one morning from the dirt runway at their air base located at Reddit, Ontario. He spent the entire day flying in and out of various lakes around Northwestern Ontario. Fishermen were picked up at the dock in Kenora and then taken to Tourist Camps to go fishing. Other guests were returned to Kenora after their fishing trips were concluded. The plane was landing and taking off on short hops between countless lakes all day long.

At the end of the day the pilot headed back to Redditt airbase where the plane was housed.

As he came in for the landing a mechanic was on the roof of the office adjusting one of the radio antennas. He heard the plane making the approach to land and noticed the pilot had forgotten to lower the wheels. The mechanic shouted a warning and waved his arms but the pilot did not notice him and could not hear him over the engine noise.

The pilot instantly realized the wheels were up when the keel of the hull touched the runway. It was too late to go around so he held the plane steady and the wings perfectly level until the forward motion stopped. At that moment one wing tipped downward until the wing pontoon touched the ground.

The pilot and the mechanics at the base went to work and jacked up the plane high enough to lower the wheels and then moved the aircraft off the runway and into the hanger. An inspection of the keel on the bottom of the hull showed a few scrape marks but no damage.
　
Management would never have been the wiser but for the fact that the mechanic on the roof got so excited trying to wave off the pilot that he lost his balance, slid down the roof and broke his leg..

The pilot made a perfect landing but the mechanic did not.