Pilots land aircraft on Calgary street after loss of power
A small plane carrying six people was forced to make a dramatic landing on a Calgary street Wednesday morning, shutting down the major route for hours.
The plane was en route to Calgary International Airport when the pilot encountered mechanical difficulties and landed the aircraft on the thoroughfare just before 6 a.m.
Transportation Safety Board investigator Mike Adam said the aircraft departed Medicine Hat early Wednesday. He said the accident happened when there was “a loss of engine power.”
“We’re here to determine what happened and why,” he told reporters after arriving at the scene.
“We’re fortunate that the aircraft is intact and that there were no injuries or fatalities.”
A pilot, co-pilot and four people were on board; Calgary police say no injuries were reported.
The plane is owned by Super T Management (Aviation), according to Flightaware.com, and was travelling from Medicine Hat to Calgary.
In a statement from company owner Terri Super, the Piper PA-31 Navajo lost power due to an unknown cause and was forced to land short of the airport.
“Our primary concern at this time is the well-being of all those involved in this incident. Super T Aviation will be co-operating fully with the Transportation Safety Board in their investigation to determine a cause,” said the statement from Super, which added she’s pleased that the action of the pilots was able to “ensure a safe landing ” and is grateful there were no injuries.
The statement noted all on board were examined by EMS and released without injury.
According to the Transportation Safety Board, the charter flight was coming in for a landing on Runway 35R at Calgary International Airport, about six kilometres north of where the plane was forced to make its emergency touchdown.
Adam said he and another investigator will collect data on site, conduct witness interviews, examine and photograph the plane, and look at other details such as maintenance history, weather conditions and operation policies.
“The TSB investigators have to examine all of the information before drawing any conclusions, and it’s too early to say what the causes and contributing factors are, or how they relate to this accident,” he said.
“We will be working with the operator and the Calgary Police Service and the Calgary Transit Service to look at the information about this accident and help determine what the next steps will be.”
Adam said the TSB will expedite its work to get 36th Street NE open as soon as possible. The aircraft is expected to be towed intact.
After inspecting the scene, TSB investigators will be conducting pilot and passenger interviews. The safety board has been in contact with company officials.
Adam said this type of aircraft does not have a flight-data recorder.
Jamal Hammoud said he got up this morning to see fire trucks on 36th Street. He thought it might have something to do with the CTrain, before he spotted an airplane on the road.
He rushed to check his security camera and found footage of a car driving underneath the plane just before it landed on 36th Street.
“I saw the airplane landing, just missing a car,” he said.
Hammoud said he woke up his wife and joked, “I have an airplane; let’s go for a vacation.”
“I even woke up the kids and told them ‘I’m flying you guys to school.’ And they all ran to the window to see the airplane.”
Since then, the view from their windows has been a steady stream of emergency vehicles and people coming to take photographs.
One of the community members at the scene was Marge Wawryn, who lives nearby.
“The thing that surprises me is how (the pilot) was able to land without any cars in the way,” she said.
It’s the third time this week that a plane has landed on a road in Canada. On Sunday, a small aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing south of Merritt, B.C. on the Coquihalla Highway. Also on Sunday, a plane near Chelsea, Que., made an emergency landing outside Ottawa. There were no injuries in either landing.