BEVERLY, Massachusetts -- A 17-year-old student pilot from Massachusetts who successfully made an emergency landing after losing a wheel during her first solo flight plans to return to the cockpit soon.
Maggie Taraska, a high school senior from Gloucester, said Monday she was "scared" and "stressed" when she learned she had lost a wheel after takeoff from Beverly Regional Airport on Sunday.
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She pulled herself together, and with help from instructor John Singleton on the ground, landed without a scratch although the single-engine Piper PA28 suffered significant damage.
After the plane came to a bumpy halt on the grass, she got out into the waiting arms of her father, Walt.
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Singleton said some pilots with more experience than Maggie would have panicked, but she remained calm and "did it by the book."