 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
Emergency crews douse the Buffalo Airways DC-3 aircraft that crash landed at the Yellowknife airport Monday evening in foam. All three crew members and 21 passengers escaped without injury. - photo courtesy of David Connelly |
'It's a great day to be alive' Passenger relieved after engine catches fire and pilot lands plane safely
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, August 21, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Buffalo Airways DC-3 aircraft destined for Hay River crash landed short of the runway at Yellowknife Airport shortly after 5 p.m. on Monday after one of the plane's engines failed.
According to Michael Conway, regional superintendent for the NWT Department of Transportation, all three crew members and 21 passengers exited the aircraft without injuries.
Conway said the plane declared an emergency shortly after takeoff, but could not give details regarding the emergency.
Representatives from Buffalo Airways did not return calls for comment by press time.
David Connelly, one of the passengers on the plane, said the engine on the right side of the plane caught fire about 30 seconds into the flight.
"There was a lot of commotion and it became apparent that there were flames streaming out of the right-hand engine," said Connelly. "There was smoke and then a little bit of smoke started filling up in the cabin. Not much, but some smoke."
Once the pilots were alerted, the decision was made to turn off the engine and attempt a return to the airport.
Connelly's greatest concern was that at the time the pilot turned the plane around, all he could see below him were rocks and lakes.
After the plane was turned around, the pilot did all he could to make sure the plane landed safely.
"He was just ripping the lefthand engine, doing everything possible to get us some power to slow down the rate of descent," said Connelly.
"You could tell we were settling, not crashing."
On its approach back to the airport, the plane narrowly missed hitting power lines but could not avoid clipping some trees before settling into the trees surrounding the airport field. The plane then skidded onto the grass and spun around several times before landing on the runway a few hundred metres west of the Adlair Aviation building.
As a result of the crash landing, the plane's tail-gear was damaged and its two propellers were knocked off.
"We just made it over the power lines," said a relieved Connelly.
Connelly added that after the plane was evacuated, a crew member told passengers that he decided not to deploy the aircraft's landing gear, because he was worried about creating extra drag.
Connelly said that if it had not been for that decision, the incident could have ended much more seriously.
"By my estimation, where I was sitting ... when I looked down, if the wheels had been down, we would have clipped the power lines. And that likely would have been game over."
Connelly applauded the crew for saving the plane from disaster.
"It's a great day to be alive," he said.
"A huge credit to the pilots, who held it up over the power lines and the trees," he said.
Connelly also believed that there was an element of luck involved in the safe, albeit hard, landing.
According to him, a charter flight, which is not usually scheduled to fly to Hay River, was leaving 15 minutes before the regularly scheduled Buffalo Airways flight took off.
Several passengers who showed up early for the scheduled flight were bumped onto the charter flight.
"They put some of the load on the first aircraft. Had an extra five people been on our aircraft or had they had the luggage on that aircraft, it's quite conceivable we would have lost that extra two feet."
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched a preliminary investigation into the incident, said spokesperson Chris Krepski.
Krepski said agents would be gathering evidence from the site on Tuesday. Based on their findings, they will then decide whether or not to launch a full investigation, he said.
Hard landings
March 5, 2012 - Yellowknife
A Buffalo Airways L-188 Electra airplane made a hard landing after the crew was unable to drop the landing gear beneath the plane's right wing.
As a result, the plane spun off the runway on its wing and belly at the Yellowknife Airport.
No one was injured in the incident.
November 27, 2008 - Fort Smith
A Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. Jetstream 31 aircraft suffered major damage after making a hard landing at the Fort Smith Airport.
According to the company's co-owner at the time, the incident occurred when the plane descended too quickly through heavy fog. The pilot did not halt the descent quickly enough and hit the runway too hard.
The plane's left propeller, engine and landing gear were damaged.
The three passengers and two crew members on the flight escaped without serious injury.
March 11, 2006 - Yellowknife
A Buffalo Airways DC-3 plane heading to Yellowknife from Hay River was forced to turn around after trouble was reported with one of its two engines, March 11.
Hay River Airport manager Kelly O'Connor said his understanding was that the pilot of the DC-3 declared an emergency about 30 km from Hay River while under control of air traffic control in Edmonton.
No one was injured in the incident.
August 28, 2002 - Diavik mine
A Buffalo Airways DC-4 cargo plane crashed at the Diavik mine after knocking off a light bulb on the second last approach light, severing the final navigational light.
The force of the impact upon landing buckled the right landing gear, causing the right wing to smash into the runway and separate from the aircraft.
The pilot sustained minor injuries, no one else was hurt.
Source: Yellowknifer archives
| 
