PORT CLINTON

A 1957 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane crash-landed at Erie Ottawa County Regional Airport late Saturday morning.
The plane suffered damage to its right wing, left wing, landing gear, propeller and motor. The pilot and his passenger were both wearing lap belts and were not injured in the crash.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, the airplane departed the Oakland–Pontiac Airport in Pontiac, Mich., at about 10:15 a.m. with a destination of Zelienople, Penn.
Detroit Airport lost contact with the plane over the Put-In Bay area. The Cleveland control tower also was unable to establish contact.
At this point the pilot, Thomas R. Goulding, 64, of White Lake, Mich., lost all of his control panel lights.  He detoured to Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport.
As the airplane approached the airport, with the engine running under power, Goulding lowered the landing gear. Because of the electrical malfunction, the landing gear failed to fully extend and Goulding had no warning light to alert him of the fact.
The airplane touched down at the airport at about 11:15 a.m., and the landing gear collapsed. The plane slid off the side of the runway and struck a runway marker.
The airplane was removed from the scene by Tiffin Air of Tiffin.
By early evening, there was no one at the airport who had been there at the time of the crash.
Neighbors said they saw a lot of commotion but didn’t see the plane come down.
“I didn’t even hear it,” said Brian Stinson, who was working all day in his yard on Lake Street, across East State Road from the airport. “My friends have a scanner. They said there was something wrong with the landing gear.”
Andrew Judware, who lives on East State Road, said he saw emergency vehicles gathering at the airport in preparation for the landing.
“We watched from the window, but we didn’t see a whole heck of a lot,” he said. “We thought a plane was going to crash, but we never saw anything.”
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Port Clinton Fire Department, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Avaition Administration, and personnel from the airport staff.