Fort Smith (Jul 03/06) - A plane was forced to turn around and head back to Fort Smith Airport on June 23 after the pilot began to feel ill.

The pilot, the only person on the aircraft, landed safely.

"He had to return to the airport because he was feeling dizzy and nauseous, and he had a tingling sensation in his extremities," says Bill Hval, the airport manager.

Hval says the plane, a Cessna 172, had just left the airport in the morning when it returned.

Emergency response teams, including the community's ambulance and fire department, were standing by as the aircraft landed.

"As part of our emergency procedures, we prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Hval says.

However, he says it was not an emergency situation. "It would be an incident until such time as the aircraft failed to make the runway."

The pilot was from Fort McMurray and was returning to the Alberta city.

Hval says the pilot was checked out at hospital in Fort Smith and flew out of the airport later in the day.

The incident did not interfere with the operation of the airport, since no other flights were landing or leaving at the time.