Roush Fenways #16-Greg Biffle and his two pilots were involved in a minor incident this morning while landing at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. A mechanical failure during the landing caused the airplane to skid to a stop on the runway. No one on board the aircraft was injured.(Roush Fenway Racing)(3-9-2011) UPDATE: Amy Caudill, a spokeswoman for the airport, said the private plane’s right landing gear collapsed as it was taxiing at 10:52 a.m. Caudill said the airport did not classify the incident as a crash; it was a “mechanical failure,” she said. The plane was landing on the airport’s main commercial runway. The runway was closed for about two hours while crews towed the plane and cleaned up debris, she said. Five flights were affected, including a plane that was in the air and had to divert to Louisville until the runway was clear, she said. Several departures were delayed. Biffle lives in Mooresville, N.C. He was in Lexington on business, a NASCAR spokeswoman said.(Lexington Herald Leader) AND As Greg Biffle’s plane arrived at Blue Grass Airport, from North Carolina, the landing gear collapsed. That forced airport officials to close the main runway for hours. Biffle said his Falcon 20 airplane is his pride and joy. He’s never had problems with it until now. Biffle uses the plane quite often when he’s not racing. “Five years I’ve been with that plane,” Biffle said. “We fly about 200 to 300 hours a year, so we put a lot of time into it. It’s been a great airplane.” But today’s landing was unlike any other for Biffle, and his two pilots, as the landing gear collapsed. “I realized that the side of the plane was low to the ground, and I looked out the window and I could see the sparks coming off the wings at the ground,” Biffle said. “So at that point I knew we had problems.” Biffle says they’re very lucky the plane remained on the runway. For a couple of hours, emergency crews and officials worked to remove it, temporarily shutting down the runway and all flights. “I was worried,” Biffle said. “I’m a pilot myself and I’m looking out the front window at how much runway we had left and knew we were ok if it stayed on the runway. When it goes off the runway, it’s a whole different element, a whole different case of problems.” Biffle says he has been in a minor plane crash before, but not with this plane. He flew home today, to North Carolina, where he says he plans to regroup.(WKYT)(3-9-2011)
