Billings runway closed after single-engine plane crash lands

BILLINGS (AP) — The main runway at Billings Logan International Airport was closed for about 45 minutes Friday and two commercial flights were delayed after a single-engine airplane made a hard landing.

Airport Operations Manager Shane Ketterling tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/1L8byLE ) that the pilot and his female passenger were uninjured.

Ketterling says two commercial flights were diverted toward Bozeman because it wasn't immediately clear how quickly crews would be able to clear the runway after the noontime landing that damaged the plane's propeller and engine.

A United flight returned to Billings without landing in Bozeman, while the Delta flight landed in Bozeman and then returned to Billings.

Ketterling says the pilot of the small airplane told the control tower his front landing gear might not be locked in place, but he thought he co