UPDATE – The pilot of a small plane was taken to Royal Inland Hospital after a crash this morning on the runway at Kamloops Airport.
Emergency crews were called around 9:15 a.m. to initial reports that the pilot was out of the aircraft and fuel was leaking on the runway.
Airport Managing Director, Ed Ratuski, tells NL News a four-seater Cessna had issues landing when the pilot’s gear collapsed.
“The pilot was taken to hospital as a precaution,” he said. “We’re just now waiting for approval from Transportation Safety Board to remove the aircraft from the runway and then we’ll get operations back to normal.”
The runway reopened just before 2 p.m. today. It caused a WestJet flight from Calgary that was scheduled to land at YKA at 10:38 a.m. to turn around and return to Alberta. Flights that were scheduled later in the day from Vancouver and Prince George were not affected.
(Photo via @pilot_poppa on twitter)
Very little movement on the runway in the past half hour at #Kamloops Airport. I’ve seen some sort of hoses used a few times, which may be consistent with reports of fuel being spilled in the apparent accident. It appears to be a small fuel spill from minor accident. @RadioNLNews pic.twitter.com/5zNjhHjMs7
— Colton Davies (@ColtonDavies_) May 20, 2021