Pilot OK after plane flips
A B.C. pilot walked away uninjured after his biplane flipped at the Springbank Airport Tuesday.
Geoff Pritchard was coming from Chestermere — and planning to head to Vernon — when his 1930 Fleet Model 2 veered off the runway after landing and turned upside down.
“Basically, I was landing and just lost the control during landing, and it left the runway and went upside down,” Pritchard said shortly after the incident.
Pritchard was assessed for injuries at the scene and released.
He said he didn’t have time to be alarmed, but was just focused on figuring out the reason for the loss of control and how to correct it.
“But things happen sometimes so fast,” he said. “It left the concrete runway and then hit the abutment on the grass, and I think that’s what tipped it over. It was a very slow speed, it’s just unfortunate that it has done a fair bit of damage.”
The extent of the damage to the plane is unknown.
After the plane was taken for repairs, other pilots at Springbank Airport gathered around Pritchard to offer assistance.
“Pilots are good guys,” said Bashar Hussien.
Hussien, a recreational pilot who uses Springbank Airport, said it’s not often that this kind of incident occurs. He noted the wind had been shifting Tuesday afternoon.
Alex Zimmer said he was on a taxiway nearby in his own plane when the incident happened.
“The plane was coming down for a landing and caught to the left and rolled off to the left of the runway, and as he was rolling off, went onto the grass and kind of did a somersault forward,” he said.
Pritchard said he’s glad to be OK after the rocky landing.
He plans to wait and see the condition of the airplane before determining his next steps.
“We’re definitely not going to Vernon today,” he said.
Pritchard has been flying the airplane for the past four-and-a-half years.
Cochrane RCMP, who were dispatched to respond to the incident at about noon on Tuesday, said Transport Canada will be investigating the crash.