Did Not Lower The Gear After Aborting First Landing Attempt

A congressional candidate in Washington State has some egg on his face, but it's not from a campaign gaffe.

GOP congressional hopeful Jim Postma was flying his twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air (similar airplane pictured in file photo) from Friday Harbor to Spanaway Airport (S44) where he keeps ... or kept ... the plane, according to television station KOMO. He had been on a day trip with his wife to the popular vacation island northwest of Seattle.

On his first approach to Spanaway airport, he reportedly aborted the landing and raised the gear during the go-around. But on the second attempt, he said he "forgot" to lower the gear, and made a gear-up landing on the pavement.

The sparks from the contact between the airplane and the concrete started a small grass fire that was extinguished quickly, but the airplane wasn't so lucky. Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said that both Postma and his wife Fran were uninjured, and were able to exit the airplane unassisted. The plane was destroyed by the fire, though Postma said the engines might be salvageable.

FAA records indicate that the airplane was a 1961 model Beech 95-55 registered to a Delaware corporation called Western Airlines. On his campaign bio, Postma indicates he is the president of that company. Postma is a candidate for the Washington State's 9th congressional district against incumbent Adam Smith (D).

FMI: www.ntsb.gov