A small plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at Victoria International Airport this afternoon.
The privately-owned Mooney aircraft experienced landing gear issues at around 12:47 p.m., but the pilot was able to safely land the aircraft with two passengers on board.
Minor flight delays from earlier small aircraft incident. Please check w/airline or https://t.co/1Xrd46P1CG for latest information. #yyjops
— Victoria Int Airport (@Fly_YYJ) May 12, 2017
It is unclear if inclement weather was a factor in the emergency landing and landing gear issues.
“All I do know is what happened on the ground,” said James Bogusz, vice-president of operations and development with the Victoria Airport Authority. “Of course through investigation I’m sure follow up with the aircraft mechanics will look at that. Perhaps they’ll look at what contributing factors were a result of this landing gear issue.”
As a precautionary measure, emergency responders from North Saanich, the RCMP and BC ambulance all attended the scene, Bogusz said. He added that thankfully everyone was able to walk away without injury.
One of the airport runways remained closed as crews moved the disabled aircraft from the main runway (runway 0927), which took about 90 minutes.
Crews are currently executing towing plan for the disabled aircraft. We anticipate more information shortly. #yyjops
— Victoria Int Airport (@Fly_YYJ) May 12, 2017
Initially causing delays to around five flights at the airport, the aircraft was towed off the airfield around 2:30 p.m. with regular operations resuming after. The plane was towed to the east area of the airfield to one of the aircraft mechanics.
“Something of this nature is unusual in the sense that we have an aircraft actually having an accident; however, there are declared emergencies from time to time … but it’s not typical you would have an aircraft with a landing gear problem like this.”
Because it was a privately-owned aircraft, further information is limited, such as the purpose of the flight, along with the origin and destination.
