Yellowknife (Apr 13/05) - Emergency response crews were ready for the worst Tuesday afternoon as a Hercules aircraft declared an emergency between Kugluktuk and Yellowknife.

Airport manager Michel LaFrance said at 12:09 p.m., airport officials received a call that a First Air Hercules aircraft had declared an emergency.

"At 12:12 p.m., we opened the ECC (Emergency Co-ordination Centre)," LaFrance said.

Highway 3 leading to the airport from Old Airport Road and Bristol Avenue were barricaded.

About 40 people were evacuated from the terminal building and nearby construction sites were evacuated in under four minutes.

"Since we had about one hour, the ECC mitigated the risk and evacuated the terminal as a precautionary measure," LaFrance said.

The highway was closed for 18 minutes and the terminal was closed for 16 minutes.

Mike Olsen, director of sales for First Air, said the cargo flight had departed High Lake, near Kugluktuk, at 11:40 a.m.

There were four crew members on board. The aircraft was returning to Yellowknife empty of cargo, Olsen said.

"Approximately 15 minutes after departure, the flight crew experienced a pressurization indication. "Following standard operating procedures, the flight crew declared an emergency," Olsen said.

The Hercules aircraft landed at 1:05 p.m. without incident.

Olsen said maintenance engineers are inspecting the aircraft.

Outside reports of black smoke coming from the plane as it descended was no indication of trouble, he noted.

"That could have been the exhaust," Olsen said.

Such smoke is normal in the operation of Hercules aircraft, LaFrance added.

Olsen could not comment on what the pressurization indication was indicating as a hazard.

"Engineers are checking over the problem now, so I can't elaborate," he told Yellowknifer.

Olsen said further details about the state of the aircraft will be made available as soon as they are known.

The plane had just received a maintenance check up, he added.

The Hercules is the primary cargo aircraft and is used daily, he said.

Steve Loutitt, fire chief of the Yellowknife airport fire department, said when an emergency is declared, the emergency co-ordination centre is opened and emergency procedures are implemented.

"We call all our off-duty firefighters at the airport and the city fire hall and have a full group alert so we have city and airport vehicles on stand by when the aircraft arrives at the airport," Loutitt said.

On scene were the two airport fire department trucks, a utility/command vehicle, city ambulance, pumper, tanker and a command vehicle.

Yellowknife RCMP Inspector Greg Morrow said police also were providing assistance at the ECC.

"In the event the incident escalated, the response would be seamless," Morrow said.

Morrow said the highway was closed because the aircraft had to fly directly overhead.

No flights diverted

No flights had to be diverted as a result of the evacuation, said LaFrance.

All agreed the measures and co-ordinated efforts were successful.

"It was a quiet time. But we would have anticipated that issue," he said of handling a busier air field.

But such emergency response events happen regularly, LaFrance said.

"That's the nature of aviation. We are almost a designated airport for emergency landings," LaFrance said. "We have the facilities. We don't take that lightly."