Three people were unharmed after a private single-engine plane made an emergency landing at Victoria International Airport on Friday afternoon.
The four-seater plane experienced mechanical failure with its landing gear as it made an emergency landing on the airport’s main runway about 12:45 p.m., said James Bogusz, spokesman for the Victoria Airport Authority.
Airport firefighters, North Saanich Fire, B.C. Ambulance and Sidney/North Saanich RCMP responded. The three people in the plane walked away with no injuries, Bogusz said.
Parts of the plane’s landing gear did not activate, he said. “I can see a portion of the aircraft was on landing gear and a portion wasn’t.”
Bill Yearwood, regional manager of air investigations for the Transportation Safety Board, said the pilot told him he discovered he had a problem with the landing gear while the plane was in the air.
“After landing, the right main landing gear collapsed,” Yearwood said.
The TSB approved the removal of the aircraft from the runway. The agency will not undertake a full investigation of the relatively minor crash.
The main runway was closed until 2:30 p.m. as tow companies removed the plane.
About five flights were delayed for 15 to 45 minutes due to the runway closing. Other aircraft used the airport’s two crosswind runways.
The disabled plane was taken to Victoria Air Maintenance, where the owner will decide on repairs.
Because it’s a private aircraft, the airport authority does not have information on where the plane took off from or its final destination. Bogusz said he does not know where the three people are from.
The Victoria Flying Club said the aircraft did not belong to any of their members.
