A twin-engine turboprop aircraft with its left main landing gear stuck in the up position skidded to a safe landing at a Navy air station Monday, authorities said.
The Grumman G-159 was on a military flight from San Nicolas Island to Point Mugu, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor.
The airplane came in with its left engine feathered — the propeller slowly turning — and it set down gently before settling onto its left wing, then skidded to its left off the runway and onto an unpaved area.
Several people jumped out as fire trucks sprayed the craft in a scene broadcast live by a KCAL-TV helicopter.
San Nicolas Island is a Navy-owned island off Southern California.
Point Mugu Naval Air Station is in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.
