A twin-engine airplane carrying two people made a hard landing without its front landing gear at Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg on Monday evening, circling above the airfield to burn off fuel before touching down safely. Both occupants walked away from the aircraft unassisted and were uninjured, though emergency crews had staged for a potential hard landing before the plane came down.
Emergency crews responded to 7940 Airpark Road at 6:37 p.m., according to FOX 5 DC, which reported that the incoming aircraft was unable to lower its landing gear. Per Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service officials, the twin-engine plane was experiencing issues specifically with its nose landing gear, prompting officials to close the airfield to all air traffic while the plane circled to troubleshoot the mechanical problem. Fire and rescue personnel established a scene presence at the airport in case the landing went wrong, but once the plane touched down safely, responders downsized their presence. Authorities have not released the identity of the occupants or the origin of the flight.
The aircraft involved was a Piper Seneca registered under tail number N1519T, according to WUSA9, which reported the plane landed hard on the runway without its front landing gear after circling to burn off fuel and attempt mechanical fixes. Records reviewed by Maryland Bay News show the plane is registered to High Flyers Aviation Services LLC, an entity incorporated in March 2025 at Hangar C of the airpark as the U.S. operational arm of a pilot training pipeline tied to Washington International Flight Academy.
A Recent Gear Scare
Monday's incident follows a June 26 landing-gear emergency at Montgomery County Airpark. A small aircraft made a safe emergency landing following landing gear issues, an incident that prompted local police to temporarily close nearby Woodfield Road and Muncaster Mill Road during the response, according to the same Maryland Bay News reporting. A separate no-injury landing incident involved a nose-gear malfunction and a hard landing on the runway, according to a report referenced by the outlet.
The airfield has also seen more serious incidents in recent years. In November 2022, a single-engine Mooney M20J crashed into a 100-foot Pepco power transmission tower in Gaithersburg while approaching the airpark, causing widespread power outages before emergency technical rescue teams freed the two trapped occupants overnight, an incident that led to extensive review by the National Transportation Safety Board, as documented by the article. The National Transportation Safety Board also documented a past incident in which N9926L was substantially damaged during a forced landing after takeoff from Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The National Transportation Safety Board documented another past incident on Dec. 8, 2014, when an aircraft crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Why So Much Flight Training Traffic
The frequency of incidents at the airpark is tied to how the facility is used. Flight training operations are part of the activity at Montgomery County Airpark, and community groups have raised concerns about noise and airspace congestion tied to that training. The airpark accommodates aircraft and aircraft operations, per the article's reporting. According to the Airpark Community Advisory Committee's 2025 annual report, its analysis of the Airpark covered noise impacts, safety, economic performance and facilities.
The airpark also serves commercial charter and air-taxi operations, the same source notes. The Montgomery County Revenue Authority owns and operates the airpark and is described by the Maryland Bay News reporting as quasi-governmental, while the facility leases hangar facilities to private operators like the one tied to Monday's aircraft. According to the Montgomery County Revenue Authority's response to the 2025 Airpark Community Advisory Committee annual report, the Airpark is subject to annual safety inspections by the Montgomery County Fire Marshal.
National Context for Training-Related Incidents
Flight training at the airpark provides context for incidents there. An academic study of National Transportation Safety Board data published in May 2024 was cited as examining general-aviation accidents, but the available sources do not establish its findings or a comparative incident rate for airports with different mixes of pilots.
