A WestJet plane taxiing at Comox Valley Airport for a flight to Edmonton collided with a parked CC-130H Hercules military plane shortly after noon on Wednesday.
An airline spokesperson described the incident as minor.
“All guests and crew were safely offloaded from the aircraft and there have been no reported injuries as a result of this incident,” said company spokesperson Denise Kenny.
No one was onboard the Hercules, a military spokesman said.
Passenger Danielle Homeniuk and her teenager were in the sixth row of the WestJet plane when it came into contact with the Hercules.
A tip of the wing on the right side of the WestJet plane came off, she said.
The two were on Vancouver Island to visit Homeniuk’s parents, who live in Comox.
The plane had been moving along the tarmac and then: “Just boom. Like it was such an abrupt halt — just happened in a matter of seconds.”
She compared the feeling with being rear-ended in a vehicle but said her head did not hit the seat in front. But her teenager has neck strain and a visit to the doctor is planned once they return home.
“We jolted forward,” she said.
One flight attendant fell toward a passenger but a “second flight attendant kind of caught her,” Homeniuk said. She thinks the jolt happened as a result of the pilot hitting the plane’s brakes hard.
The pilot spoke via the intercom a few minutes later, apologizing to passengers.
He said “someone had given him the thumbs up” indicating there had been room to go around the Hercules, Homeniuk said. She does not know if that was someone on the ground or in a control tower.
It took about 20 minute from the collision to when the first 66 passengers at the front of the plane were allowed to disembark, she said. Two shuttles carried passengers to the terminal to wait for another plane.
Homeniu, a nurse, said no one asked if they were okay, despite the presence of emergency personnel.
In the terminal she requested an ice pack for her teen. One was eventually provided by a member of the airport staff.
Homeniuk decided to remain on the Island one more night and fly home to Edmonton on Thursday.
The airport referred questions to the airline and to the military. The Hercules is part of the 19 Wing Comox fleet.
Hercules aircraft are used mainly for search and rescue operations.
The incident is being investigated by WestJet, Royal Canadian Air Force and the Transportation Safety Board, said National Defence spokesman Andrew McKelvey.
The RCAF is working to minimize the impact on fixed-wing search-and-rescue operations within Search and Rescue Region Victoria, he said. Rotary wing search-and-rescue coverage remains unaffected.
As the matter is being investigated by multiple flight safety agencies, it would be inappropriate to comment on the nature and extent of the damage or speculate on the cause, he said.
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