Small plane lands on its nose at Bend Airport after front landing gear fails to deploy; 3 people aboard uninjured

(Update: Adding video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – An "aircraft emergency" was declared and there were some tense moments at Bend Airport early Thursday afternoon when a small plane with three people aboard landed on its nose after the front landing gear failed to deploy, officials said.

No one was reported injured in the incident, which occurred shortly before 12:30 p.m.

The airport had to be closed for about two hours, and a crane was brought in to move the plane off the runway.

“Our very first and foremost responsibility is to keep the airport runway operational and return to service as soon as possible," Airport Manager Tracy Williams said.

"And while there's an active aircraft incident involved, we will close the runway to landing traffic to mitigate against additional aircraft accidents or incidents,” she added.

The runway was not damaged in the incident, she said, allowing normal operations to resume.

The National Transportation Safety Board will look into what caused the problem with the landing gear.

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