A pilot of a small plane was injured in an emergency landing Tuesday at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport.
Airport spokesperson Ashley Hilland said the plane involved was a Cessna 152 and only one person was on board.
According to Pitt Meadows fire chief Don Jolley, the plane was just taking off at about 2:55 p.m. when the pilot decared an emergency.
"He tried to land, he couldn't make it back to the runway."
Instead, the pilot was able to land on the taxi way that connects the seaplane ramp on the Fraser River with the airport. Jolley added the pilot did a good job in making it to the taxi way to land the plane.
The aircraft sustained some damage and there was also a significant fuel leak. Firefighters spread absorbent material on the ground to contain the leak and keep the fuel from flowing into the river.
Jolley said the pilot was evacuated by air ambulance after passersby rescued him from the aircraft.
The pilot of a small plane pulled himself from the cockpit of his downed Cessna after crash landing at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport Tuesday afternoon, say fire officials.
Firefighters and police officers raced to the airport after receiving calls around 2:50 p.m. that a plane had gone down, said Sandy Mallan, an administrative assistant at Pitt Meadows Fire Rescue Service.
When they arrived at the airport, they found the downed craft near a float plane ramp, located just a few hundred metres away from the airport runways.
The pilot - the lone occupant of the plane - was located at the site, conscious and suffering from non life-threatening injuries.
He was flown to hospital in an air ambulance, said Ashley Hilland, a property manager at the airport.
Hilland said airport officials don't yet know what caused the crash, nor do they know whether the plane was attempting to land or take off.
Mounties remained on the scene after the crash as investigators begin to piece together what went wrong during the flight.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com
PITT MEADOWS (NEWS1130) – Emergency responders say the crash of a Cessna airplane at the Pitt Meadoes Airport has sent the pilot to hospital.
Fire Chief Don Jolley of Pitt Meadows Fire and Rescue says the incident occurred mid-afternoon when the small plane declared an emergency landing about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver.
Instead, he says the plane crashed on a taxi way at the airport, and its single occupant was airlifted to Royal Columbia Hospital in New Westminster.
Airport spokeswoman Ashley Hilland says the pilot was in stable condition and officials won’t know what caused the incident until a full assessment of the scene is complete.
The airport’s website says it operates three paved and one water runway and in 2011 was the third busiest airport in the Lower Mainland.
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