Two crew members walk away unharmed after Buffalo Airways plane has rough emergency landing near Hay River

Photo courtesy of Facebook

Two crew members walked away unharmed after a Buffalo Airways plane made an emergency landing off the runway Friday morning near Hay River.

Spokesperson Alex Fournier from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says it happened about 8:00 am after an engine failed on the DC-3.

“The Hay River to Yellowknife flight experienced engine failure shortly after takeoff. They were about 10 kilometres out of Hay River…and attempted to return to the airport,” Fournier said.

He was not entirely sure how close to the airport they were when the plane landed.

Fournier added that they are still assessing the situation and have not yet decided whether a full investigation is warranted.

One media report suggests the plane is damaged beyond repair.

Buffalo Airways was of course made world-famous by the TV show Ice Pilots NWT.

It chronicled the ups and downs of the Northern airline and its fleet of vintage planes.

About the Author

John McFadden
John has been in the broadcast journalism industry since the 1980s. He has been a reporter in Yellowknife since 2012 and joined CKLB in January of 2018. John covers the crime and court beat as well as reporting on other areas including politics, business, entertainment and sports. He won seven national community newspaper awards while he was a journalist with Northern News Services Limited (NNSL). John worked in Ontario before coming North including stints as a TV sportscaster in Peterborough and senior news writer for CBC and CTV in downtown Toronto.