Seconds before the plane came down, Riegel said, the pilot told his
passengers he would land on the grass next to the runway.



Wonder why the pilot chose to land on the grass instead of the hard,
smooth runway. Seems that a gear up landing on a runway pretty much
assures a good outcome to everyone - while landing on the grass could
result in the plane digging into the soft ground, and possibly
flipping, etc....

Glad this one turned out ok.

-CK