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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Frozen brakes on an Air Tindi medevac flight caused the aircraft's tires to rupture as it skidded down the runway Wednesday morning.

The wheels on the starboard side of an Air Tindi medivac flight were deflated after the King Air 200 aircraft left the runway during landing on Wednesday morning. - photo courtesy of the Department of Transportation

The King Air 200 didn't leave the runway, according to Earl Blacklock, manager of communications for the Department of Transportation, but was found 25 feet off to the side on Runway 10 when airport fire crews arrived at around 8:45 a.m.

"It became a very serious incident the moment it was associated with a landing," said Blacklock.

No one was hurt in the incident and there were no delays getting the patient to Stanton Territorial Hospital. Blacklock credited the pilot of the airplane for ensuring that this was not a more serious incident.

"Once the pilot experienced the problem, either with the brakes or with the tires, he would have had to keep the plane under power," said Blacklock. "The fact that it was a good outcome is usually a result of the training that they have for such an incident."

Trevor Wever, vice-president of operations at Air Tindi, confirmed that a medevac headed to Yellowknife from Fort Providence had a mechanical issue while landing.

"(The plane) had frozen brakes on one side, so basically the tires were locked up," said Wever.

The pilot of the aircraft was unaware that the brakes were frozen before attempting to land, he said. No injuries were reported and no damage was sustained to the aircraft aside from the tires, said Wever.

"Once the airplane stopped, the brakes were still frozen so they called the ambulance out to unload the patient on the runway," said Wever. "Then our maintenance people went out and thawed the brakes out and towed the airplane back to our hangar."

Runway 10 was closed for a few minutes after the incident while Department of Transportation officials ensured that no debris remained on the tarmac. No flights were delayed, said Blacklock.

Four people were on board the aircraft when it landed, including the patient.

This is the second runway incident this week at the Yellowknife Airport. A Buffalo Airways L-188 Electra was severely damaged after its flight crew were forced to make an emergency landing when the landing failed to drop under the plane's right wing. No one was hurt in that incident either.

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