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Emergency landing

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Friday, January 26, 2007

FORT LIARD - Training takes over when a plane starts to experience engine troubles, according to pilot Steve Malesku.

Malesku was piloting a Cessna 206 operated by Cariboo Air that had to makean emergency landing on Jan. 17.

The plane set down outside of Fort Liard on a winter road run by Paramount Resources after the aircraft had engine troubles. The complications included some loss of power and a little bit of smoke in the cabin, said Const. Jeremy White of the Fort Liard detachment.

The aircraft was approximately 16 kilometres outside of the community when it set down on the road.

"It was perfect," said White. "They couldn't have asked for a better spot."

The plane, which was flying to the Prairie Creek mine site, contained two passengers. Both of them attributed the safe ending of the flight to Malesku who remained calm and collected, White said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Malesku said he simply followed emergency procedures.

"To me it was really a non-event," he said. "It was just textbook, that's all."

Response to the downed plane came quickly. A pilot from the Great Slave Helicopter base in Fort Liard flew to the scene immediately after hearing about the forced landing. The RCMP followed by driving the winter road to the site.

Neither the Canada Safety Board nor Transport Canada will be conducting further investigations because there were no injuries or damage to the aircraft, said White.