Calm Pilot Skids In Safely as Nervous Wingman Holds Breath

“He was more calm than I was.”

That was the way pilot Daniel York described his business partner, John Gordon, who circled over the desert for three hours Wednesday, preparing to make a crash landing at Van Nuys Airport because of a faulty landing gear.

York flew alongside him, joking and keeping his spirits up.

York, of West Hills, took to the air after Oxnard Airport officials called him about 10 a.m. to report that Gordon, flying from Van Nuys Airport to Oxnard for routine maintenance of his twin-engine Cessna 310, discovered his nose wheel would not lock into landing position.

York met Gordon high above Pierce College and inspected the landing gear from below. It refused to lock.

The two men headed for Lancaster and flew in circles over the Mojave Desert to burn up about 70 of the 130 gallons of fuel on board Gordon’s plane to reduce the chance of fire after the wheels-up landing.

York said the two men discussed how to land the plane and tried to joke about Gordon’s predicament to ease tension. York promised to get Gordon a hamburger while they waited to land.

At one point, Gordon jokingly said he had to go to the bathroom. York said, “I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it . . . The plane will probably be totaled when we get down.’ ”

York said Gordon, of Greenville, Ga., did not need much calming. Gordon said, “If you get worried about things, it just makes it worse.”

Finally, about 1:30 p.m., Gordon prepared to land, his friend trailing behind. As a safety precaution, Gordon shut down the right engine half a mile from the airport and the left engine shortly before gliding the plane onto the runway.

The plane skidded 150 yards onto an adjacent dirt field, kicking up dust as it plowed the grass.

Gordon, who had already opened the door for a fast exit, hopped out and ran. The plane suffered only minor damage.

At last, York relaxed. “Finally, my nerves let go,” he said.

York, landing his own plane at the time, relaxed too much. “I ended up running into the dirt myself because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.”

There was no damage to him or his plane.