INUVIK - A First Air plane was forced to land with only one working engine Monday afternoon due to a malfunctioning emergency engine light.

The false alarm happened not long after the flight carrying 18 passengers left Norman Wells at 12:03 p.m. A light came on in the cockpit indicating that one engine was overheating, according to Chris Ferris, First Air's vice-president of marketing and sales.

This First Air plane had to make an emergency landing in Inuvik Monday afternoon because of a faulty emergency light. - Andrew Rankin NNSL photo

Following standard procedure, the pilot shut down the engine and decided to land in Inuvik, the scheduled destination, instead turning back to Norman Wells because of bad weather. The plane arrived at the airport at 12:38 p.m.

"There was nothing wrong with the engine, there was no overheat, no engine fire," Ferris said. "It was a precautionary shut down."

Paul Knowlton, who was travelling to Inuvik from Ottawa, was on the flight. He said an announcement was made on the plane explaining exactly what was happening and the flight would be landing in Inuvik. He said he didn't feel nervous or annoyed by the experience.

"They told us they were going to fly on in," he said. "So we came in on one engine. I couldn't tell the difference. I didn't feel like I was in danger, it was nice and smooth."

Ferris said after the pilot shut down the engine they followed standard procedure by contacting the airport to declare a state of emergency. Ambulance, police and fire crews arrived to meet the aircraft.

Pilots flew the plane to Edmonton Monday night to have the emergency light replaced and to repair the circuit controlling the emergency light.

Ferris said though such incidents are rare, they have happened to other First Air planes. In an interview on Tuesday, he said he expected the plane to be back in service Wednesday or Thursday.

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