Mechanical failure is the likely cause of a hard landing that closed down the runway at Langley Regional Airport for three hours on Saturday night.
Airport general manager Guy Miller told The Times it appears the nose wheel on a privately-owned twin-engined Piper Aztec collapsed when the plane set down around 7 p.m.
Miller said it doesn’t appear that the below-freezing temperatures and slight frost at the time had any effect on the landing.
“The pavement (on the runway) was dry and braking conditions were good,” Miller said.
The aircraft, which flies out of Langley, was returning from a trip to Calgary with four people on board.
No one was hurt, but the runway was closed to air traffic until about 10 p.m. when the Transportation Safety Board approved moving the plane.
“It was just a matter of getting it off the runway,” Miller said.
Police, fire and ambulance crews responded to the call.
