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17-year-old student pilot lauded after landing plane safely after losing wheel on first solo flight

WATCH: Student pilot finds out her wheel has fallen off on first solo flight – Sep 10, 2018

A 17-year-old student pilot made an impressive, successful emergency landing on her first solo flight.

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The pilot took off from Beverly Regional Airport in Massachusetts on Sunday afternoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration says soon after takeoff the pilot of the single-engine, fixed-wing plane reported losing her right main wheel assembly.

Witnesses told local media it was the pilot’s first ever solo flight; she was supposed to fly to Portland, Maine.

Police and fire crews were on scene shortly after takeoff in case anything went wrong, but the pilot, whose identity hasn’t been released, was able to land safely.

The pilot’s flight path circles around the airport multiple times, as shown by Flight Radar 24.

WATCH: Plane narrowly misses van crossing runway for barbecue 

“She was up there until we were fairly safe and certain that she was ready to land,” Airport manager Gloria Bouillon told local Fox affiliate Boston 25 News.

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Bouillon explained that an instructor on the ground talked the pilot through the proper technique for an emergency landing.

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An audio recording was recorded and archived by LiveATC.net.

WATCH: Student pilot talks with instructor on air traffic control after losing wheel during solo flight 

“You’ve got plenty of fuel, you’ve got the aircraft under control,” an instructor told the pilot while she circled the airport. “It’s going to be OK.”

“You’ve always heard me say back to basics so we’re going to work the basics as much as possible here,” another instructor is heard saying.

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“Treat it as much like a normal landing as you’ve always done.”

During the landing the plane reportedly veered off the runway onto the grass, and suffered significant damage.

But the pilot was not hurt in the landing.

“Beautiful job … You’ve got a bunch of people clapping for you here!” the instructor said after the landing.

Others can be heard congratulating the pilot on her landing over the airwaves.

Bouillon told the Boston Globe, “the event went as well as it could have.”

“She did a phenomenal job in the emergency situation she was in,” she told the newspaper.

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“It was very serious and could have been much worse,” Bouillon said. “You know, she was pretty shaken up.”

The FAA is investigating the incident.

*With files from the Associated Press 

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