Plane forced to make terrifying emergency landing after losing wheel

The Eagle 8 aircraft had lost its left wheel in mid-air and was forced to divert to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in Florida.

The clip, taken on Friday, shows the light aircraft scraping along the runway and eventually coming to a halt after spinning out of control on the dirt.

Luckily no one on board the small ten-seater plane was hurt.

The four occupants, including the pilot, were seen running from the aircraft after it had come to a stop.

Airport president Rick Piccolo said: ‘They were returning from Belize. The aircraft is based here at Dolphin Aviation, and everyone walked away from it.

‘They refused any medical attention.

‘They said they were fine, shook up obviously but they said they were fine.’

The pilot had intentionally started to burn fuel mid-air by performing special manoeuvres after he realised he would need to land.

This was to lower the chance of the plane igniting on landing, according to the airport’s chief operating officer Mark Stuckey.

The Pilot Leasing-owned plane took off from Belize, Central America, and was originally headed to Tampa, Florida.