The landing gear on a SkyNorth Air medevac plane collapsed when it touched down at the Thompson airport in the early hours of Sept. 9, causing significant damage to the aircraft and rupturing its fuel system, according to a Facebook post by the Thompson Professional Firefighters Association (TPFFA).
Thompson Fire & Emergency Services (TFES) personnel attended the scene to chase the airplane down the runway to ensure the safety of the crew as the plane was evacuated and to apply extinguishing agents to suppress fuel vapours.
The TPFFA post said there were no injuries and that skill of the captain and first officer led to the incident going off as safety as possible and that RCMP and airport staff were there to provide support to the firefighters.
A media relations officer with the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada, which investigates air, marine, rail and pipeline accidents, said two pilots and a nurse were on board the plane at the time of the landing. The plane had left Thompson airport bound for Island Lake shortly before and the pilots had been unable to get the landing gear locked. They circled the airport for a while before coming in for the landing. The TSB is still in the process of collecting data, talking with the plane’s crew and with SkyNorth Air’s maintenance personnel.
