A crash rescue firefighter in a protective suit searches a...

A crash rescue firefighter in a protective suit searches a single-engine Cessna that had a hard landing Friday morning at Republic Airport. (May 21, 2010) Credit: Fred Kof

A single-engine private plane landing at Republic Airport Friday morning drifted off a runway and veered onto the grass, causing the nose wheel to collapse and bending the propeller.

A spokesman for the East Farmingdale airport said the pilot of the six-seat Cessna 210, who was the only person aboard and was not identified, touched down briefly. Witnesses said the plane then "floated" off the runway and onto the grass.

The pilot was not injured, but the runway was closed briefly after the 11:30 a.m. incident.

It was the second plane in as many days to veer off a runway at the airport.

On Thursday afternoon, another small plane veered off the runway, causing a 90-minute shutdown of the airport.

Airport spokesman Gary Lewi said the pilot of the single-engine, four-seater Cirrus aircraft, who was not identified, landed hard at 1:30 p.m. and collapsed part of the landing gear, causing a wing tip to scrape the runway and the plane to veer off the runway. There were no injuries.

The airport closed all of the runways for 90 minutes so the Federal Aviation Administration could inspect the aircraft and airport officials could check the runways for damage.

Lewi said Friday the two incidents were the only two the airport had experienced in recent months.

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