By David Boushy and Tamara Elliott, Global News
By David Boushy and Tamara Elliott, Global News
By David Boushy and Tamara Elliott, Global News
CALGARY- A small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway west of Calgary on Friday morning.
Two men were inside a Cessna 182 that left the Springbank Airport around 8 a.m., for a sightseeing trip through Kananaskis. About 20 minutes in, the pilot noticed a sudden drop in oil pressure. A short time later, the engine quit.
The pilot turned the plane around and tried to land on Highway 40, but a truck was in the way so he landed the Cessna 182 in a ditch.
“I tried landing on the road here, but just my luck, a white truck was coming,” explains Milt Janzen, who hails from Nelson, B.C. and has been flying since 1963. “Then I tried going in the field, but as I swung into the field I saw the low power lines there, [which] left me no alternative so I had to thread the needle into the ditch.
“I did an OK job but…it was tight.”
The plane rolled for about 100 metres, and hit two signs before coming to rest.
Incredibly, both men survived without serious injury. The passenger, a man from Calgary, said it was a frightening experience.
“I was worried,” says Rick Bujnowicz. “I thought that this might be it, lights out. Not too many plane crashes that land, let’s say, agreeably.”
The Transportation Safety Board has been notified, but is not sending investigators to the scene.
Highway 40 was reduced to one lane as a result of the crash.
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The old pilots’ adage “any landing you walk away from is a good one” was proven true when a Cessna 182 made an emergency landing along Highway 40 near Stoney Nakoda Casino, Friday (Aug. 16).
While flying over Kananaskis Country from Springbank airport on a sightseeing excursion, Nelson, B.C. pilot Milt Janzen and a passenger were flying north from Barrier Lake when a gauge showed an oil pressure drop at about 8 a.m. Shortly after, the engine bogged and Janzen was forced to look for a place to land in a hurry.
“We called in a Mayday to the Edmonton Flight Centre and they had our coordinates,” said Janzen, who, along with his passenger, was uninjured. “I tried landing on the road (Highway 40), but there was traffic on it and a white truck was driving where I wanted to go.
“Then I thought I’d try a field (to the west of the highway), but I noticed power lines across it. I ended up going into the ditch. I did OK, but it was very tight, this one was a real challenge.”
While lining his Cessna up to land in the ditch, Janzen’s plane clipped a Point of Interest sign which tore some sheet metal off the starboard wing. After touching down in the ditch, the Cessna rolled for a distance before the same wing clipped another highway sign and spun the plane around before it came to a rest.
Janzen has been flying since 1963, he said, “and I never had an incident. I’ve got thousands of hours.”
His passenger, a friend of his sister in law, was also uninjured. “It’s quite likely his first flight,” said Janzen, “and quite possibly his last.”
The engine trouble occurred at about 8,000 feet, said the pilot, who turned off the electrics and shut the engine down before telling his passenger to make sure his seatbelt was on.
According to Cochrane RCMP Sgt. Chad Fournier, his detachment received notice of the Mayday call at 8:20 a.m. Fournier said Transport Canada had been notified of the incident, but wouldn’t likely respond as the incident was fairly straightforward.
Fournier said the Cessna was likely going to be towed to the Stoney Nakoda Casino where the wings would be removed and it could be hauled away on a flatbed truck.
