A student pilot crashed a single engine high wing plane onto Highway 5A, after a failed take off from Princeton airport at about 4:15 p.m. Thursday April 15.
The pilot, a 36 year old man from Oliver, walked away with a few bumps and bruises, according to RCMP Sgt. Robert Hughes.
The plane crashed directly in front of a school bus, which had just enough time to stop.
Hughes said the man had flown from Penticton to Princeton, and was on a return flight, when he failed to achieve proper airspeed on take off.
“He did all the right things,” said Hughes, who is also a pilot. The protocol under such circumstances is to keep the nose low and to not veer off, to just go forward.
The plane blasted through an airport fence, down a hill, and came to rest on the highway in front of a cement barrier where it broke into two pieces.
“He’s alive and and he has some scrapes but he gets to go home.”
Princeton Fire Department attended the scene and eliminated danger from a fuel spill, and Transport Canada was notified, said Hughes.
“When I got my pilot’s license I learned that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing,” he added.
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Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:andrea.demeer@similkameenspotlight.com
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