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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Summit Air airplane was forced to make an emergency landing Thursday afternoon at the Yellowknife airport due to mechanical issues.

"They declared an emergency and we stood by for the craft," said Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the GNWT's Department of Transportation.

"They had a long landing but an uneventful one. Everybody is safe."

The plane's two flight crew noticed about 10 minutes into the flight that there was a "buffeting of control surfaces."

"What that means is that the pilots - they know the aircraft, they are experienced - they feel something that's not right with the way the plane is flying and so that gave them concern sufficient to make them want to return back to the airport," said David Hoff, spokesperson for Summit Air.

NWT Premier Bob McLeod was one of 17 passengers on board the Dornier 228, which was headed to Wekweeti. McLeod said he felt a bump that he thought indicated they were about to land but instead passengers were told the plane was turning back to Yellowknife.

"(The plane) seemed to be vibrating a little bit and a little harder to control. I think everybody was relieved when we landed safely," he said, adding they were greeted by fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.

"The airline looked after us good. They ordered pizzas, drinks for everybody while they are waiting for the change over."

Blacklock said it was best that the plane turned back and landed in Yellowknife rather than Wekweeti.

"If you have those kinds of issues with your aircraft you don't want to land at a facility that doesn't have the crash capacity, which we have here," he said.

When the incident happened McLeod was on his way to make a presentation on devolution at the Tlicho Assembly. He was set to speak at 1 p.m. when he was delayed. At about 2 p.m. McLeod was still waiting to get on another plane.

"We are still trying to get there," he said.

"Hopefully we will get there in time before they wrap up so I can still get on the agenda."

Blacklock said weather was not a factor in the incident and no flights were impacted by the incident. Summit has notified the federal Ministry of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board of the incident. The company will be conducting an internal investigation. Hoff said he was unsure when the plane will be back in the air.

"It has to be inspected and the investigation has to be completed," said Hoff.

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