A fire department spokesman in the Portland suburb of Hillsboro says a Bellevue, Wash. couple escaped injury when their small plane made a hard landing and skidded off the main runway at Hillsboro Airport.

According to Hillsboro Fire and Rescue's Storm Smith, the pilot and his wife said they were landing behind another aircraft Monday afternoon when their single-engine Cirrus SR22 Turbo hit the runway hard and bounced back into the air. The pilot says he applied the throttle, thinking he might have to go around and try another landing. However the plane pitched to the left and veered across a grassy strip between the main runway and a taxiway.

The landing gear was badly damaged.

The couple in their 50s were not identified.