FAA Investigating 'Propeller Strike' at Lewiston Airport
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a mishap at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport where no one was hurt while a private plane was landing.
The incident happened at about 4 p.m. Monday, according to an email from the FAA.
“A single-engine Cessna 175 with two people aboard experienced a propeller strike upon landing at the (Lewiston airport),” according to the email.
The email refers questions about the people in the aircraft to the airport.
The aircraft was towed to Stout Flying Services for maintenance and inspection, said Airport Director Michael Isaacs, who confirmed that no one was injured in the incident.
The plane was from Latitude Aviation in Hayden, said the business owner, Jeff Fouche.
An instructor was teaching a student pilot who was practicing how to take off and land, he said.
Both of them are from the Coeur d’Alene area and were in Lewiston as part of standard training that involves learning to navigate unfamiliar airports, Fouche said.
The runway where the accident occurred was recently rebuilt in a $7 million project. It was narrowed by 25 feet to 75 feet because that was all the FAA would cover for a secondary runway. The FAA paid for about 94 percent of the project.
It was also shortened by 250 feet to 4,750 feet to eliminate a conflict of its safety zone with that of the airport’s primary longer runway.
The new configuration of the runway didn’t play a role in the accident, Fouche said.
The availability of the secondary runway allowed other traffic to continue uninterrupted while employees of the air traffic control tower, the Lewiston airport, Stout and Latitude Aviation handled the issue, said Airport Authority Chairman Board Gary Peters.
Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.
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