Emergency crews had a few tense moments at the Cherryland Airport near Sturgeon Bay Saturday morning after receiving a report that an aircraft on the way to the landing strip was experiencing problems. Luckily, the plane landed without incident. The initial call, shortly before noon, indicated that there was a fire aboard the aircraft, a Mooney M-25-R. Later, it was learned that the problem was actually with a landing gear. The pilot, 53-year old Andrew Kulaga of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, said he had dropped a friend off in Oshkosh and, upon taking off, was unable to retract his landing gear. He also noted that a fuse popped off a couple of times. Kulaga said he was concerned that a “belly landing” would be needed because the landing gear might not hold. After the landing, Kulaga said he and his son, John, were fine. The Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay and Brussels-Union-Gardner fire departments, Southern Door EMR’s, Sturgeon Bay Police and the Door County Sheriff’s Department all responded to the perceived emergency call. The scene was cleared at 12:11PM.
