An Altoona-Blair County Airport runway was closed after an incoming plane landed and went off the tarmac. The small plane was trying to land at the airport Tuesday morning. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

A small, single-engine aircraft ran off a general aviation runway while landing Tuesday morning at the Altoona-Blair County Airport, prompting officials to close the runway for a couple of hours until they received permission to move the aircraft, airport manager Tracy Plessinger said.

The pilot was not hurt and was able to walk away from the incident “with no scratches,” Plessinger said, adding the plane has a damaged propeller and is not flyable.

When an aircraft is in an accident, Plessinger said it requires a “complete rebuild” on the engine. In this incident, except for the propeller, people wouldn’t realize the aircraft was damaged just by looking at it, he said.

According to Plessinger, airport officials reported the accident to the Federal Aviation Administration, who in turn contacted the National Transportation Safety Board and granted permission to move the aircraft off the runway.

An investigation into what caused the accident will continue through the next few days, Plessinger said, noting the airport’s operations are “back to normal now.”

The incident did not affect the airport’s primary runway, which is used by Contour Airlines to provide commercial flights to and from Charlotte, North Carolina, Plessinger said.

Plessinger noted the rarity of aviation incidents at the airport.

A couple of years ago, another general aviation aircraft lost power upon takeoff and did a hard landing on the primary runway, he said.

Other than that, Plessinger said the airport has never had an incident involving commercial aircraft.

“Even with the general aviation aircraft, it’s very unusual for them to have an incident. There’s only been one or two in the last 10 years that I’ve been here,” Plessinger said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.