Sunday, January 08, 2012

Stinson 108 Voyager: Near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada

The pilot and passenger of this Stinson 108 that crashed near Rocky Mountain House Saturday, January 7, were able to walk away without a scratch.


A pilot and his passenger managed to escape injury after their plane crash landed in central Alberta.

Rocky Mountain House RCMP said a Stinson 108 crash landed at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Pilot Barrie Bouwman said he just focused on getting the plane down safely.

"I was about 15 miles out of town and the engine quit," Bouwman told CTV News, adding they were about 1,000 feet in the air.

"You just pick the best spot under those circumstances and you head for it.

"I picked a spot and that's where we went."

Passenger Gary Wickham said he was impressed by Bouwman's quick thinking.

"He just stayed calm through the entire situation.

"He never stopped flying the plane. He had complete control of it."

Wickham said they initially intended to land the plane on a highway but "because of the oncoming traffic on the highway that's when he [Bouwman] made the decision to take the field."

Bouwman said it had never happened to him before.

"And I don't' want to do it again either," he laughed but added he would definitely be flying again soon.

"I'm just glad I got to the ground in one piece."

Wickham agreed.

"It's hard to believe that we walked away from it.

"I never want to go through that again," he added.

However the plane was seriously damaged and Bouwman said it may even be a write off.

"The impact was tremendous," Wickham explained.

"There were quite a few things that went through my mind at that time."

The Traffic Transportation Safety Board has determined the crash was not suspicious.

Bouwman said he got his pilots license in 1976 and has owned the Stinson 108 since 1995.

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