SJFD assists with safe landing at Reed Hillview Airport

On Saturday May 15. SJFD dispatchers received a report of a single engine plane that was inbound with malfunctioning landing gear. There were three people on board the aircraft, two adults and one child. SJFD sent a full first alarm assignment, and the IC asked for additional resources to support this incident. A unified command was set up with SJFD, AMR, PD, Santa Clara County Airports Dept, and SCC EMS Duty Chief. Because of the successful Unified Command and integrated communications, the pilot was able to communicate directly with the command staff to coordinate a landing strategy. As SJFD prepared for his landing the pilot circled the airport to burn off excessive fuel. The pilot was able to perform a controlled "belly landing", skidding safely to a stop. Fire crews covered the area around the plane with class B foam in case any fuel was present. The occupants of the aircraft were assisted to a safe location as the fire crews secured power to the plane and checked for leaking fuel. All three passengers were uninjured. The challenge with this event was to amass the necessary resources to cover as many potential contingencies as possible in a short period of time. The IC, BC Anderson, established Suppression, Extrication, and Medical groups, and assigned tactical objectives to all on scene resources prior to the landing. Once all potential dangers were abated the incident was turned over to airport authorities. ###