No injuries were reported Thursday afternoon when the landing gear on a Cessna Cutlass 172RG malfunctioned and the aircraft slid to a halt beside the runway at George M. Bryan Field.

Aircraft owner Ron Demeritt and instructor Rusty Bouchillon were attempting to land at approximately 12:05 p.m. when they realized the front landing gear was malfunctioning. The pair decided the safest option would be to land in the grass beside the runway, Bouchillon said.

Airport manager and former Ward 2 Alderman Rodney Lincoln saw the plane touch down in the grass without landing gear -- the pilots had retracted the rear landing gear, as well, so the nose of the plane wouldn't dig into the ground and cause it to flip -- and estimated it slid about 100 yards before coming to a rest on its belly. It even went through a ditch that was full of water.

"The plane went down through that ditch and water shot up like they had landed in a lake," Lincoln said.

Starkville Fire Department crews rushed to the scene, but Demeritt and Bouchillon already had escaped the plane. Neither were injured.

"It was a really smooth landing," Bouchillon said this morning as crews worked to tow Demeritt's plane from the wet grass. "We were hydroplaning the whole way, especially coming through the ditch there at the end."

Demeritt said he's been flying for about 20 years and wasn't nervous when his front landing gear wouldn't open.

"Rusty kept a level head -- both of us kept a level head -- and we went through the emergency procedures and did what we had to do," Demeritt said.

Demeritt and mechanic Bill Morgan worked to pull mud and wet grass out of the front landing gear this morning, and to determine what caused the malfunction. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are expected to investigate the incident today, Lincoln said.

The runway was closed for about 45 minutes Thursday after the incident.