At approximately 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 11, the Bethlehem Police Department responded to the South Albany Airport in Selkirk for a report of an incident involving a private airplane.
Upon arrival police located a 1961 Piper airplane that was being piloted by Larrie G. Sutliff, 74, of Briarcliff Manor, New York, nose down on the runway.
The investigation has determined that the pilot was practicing landings, and on the approach landed just short of the runway, causing the front landing wheel to go into the soft ground, which, in turn, caused the nose of the plane to slid along the runway before the plane came to a rest.Sutliff was uninjured and there was no fire. Members of the Bethlehem Police Department and Selkirk Fire Department responded to the scene.
Notifications were made to the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration who will also investigate the incident. The plane was cleared from the runway in about two hours, and the runway was re-opened.
