By Skies Magazine | April 25, 2018 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 36 seconds.
A Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft registered to Super T Aviation of Medicine Hat, Alta., was forced to make an emergency landing on a Calgary roadway “due to a loss of power, unknown cause,” the company said in a statement issued on April 25, 2018.
The aircraft landed in the 1300 block of 36 Street N.E., about five kilometres south of Calgary International Airport, just after 5:30 a.m. MT on April 25.
“I’ve just lost the right fuel pump, that’s why we’re requesting 35 right,” the pilot reportedly said on a recording obtained by CBC News.
Postmedia reported an unidentified female crew member “called into the airport’s control tower, requesting permission to land at a different runway due to a problem with a fuel pump,” citing flight recording audio.
The aircraft was heading from Medicine Hat to Calgary and was carrying six people at the time of the incident–four passengers, and two crew members. No injuries were reported.
A piece of wing broke off when the plane clipped a light pole before landing, according to CBC. Photos of the aircraft after the landing indicate noticeable damage to the wing.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board deployed a team to investigate the incident, and the roadway was closed for several hours.
Calgary Police Sgt Duane Lepchuk said there was minimal traffic on the street at the time, and there were no reports of drivers having to swerve to miss the plane, the Canadian Press reported.
This was the third emergency landing of a small aircraft in Canada in the span of about 72 hours.
The first took place April 22 on the Coquihalla Highway, near Merritt, B.C. A small Mustang II plane reportedly touched down on the grass median between highway lanes.
The incident was attributed to mechanical failure, and the pilot was unhurt, Global News reported.
Later the same day, another small plane was forced to land on Highway 6 in western Quebec, about 15 kilometres northwest of downtown Ottawa. No one was injured and the plane was not damaged, police said.
The TSB said it will gather information about the Calgary event and assess the occurrence.
