Markham
July 07, 2008 10:28 AM
By: Joe Fantauzzi, Staff Writer
Three people, including a student pilot, walked away from a crash landing at Buttonville airport in Markham last night.
At about 11:50 p.m., a student pilot from London was on a night cross-country flight with a pilot instructor and a passenger in a Cessna 172 when he failed to negotiate the landing, resulting in a “substantial impact”, York Regional Police spokesperson Const. Gary Phillips said.
“He was doing his landing — his instrument flight readings,” Const. Phillips said, “When he was coming in, he had somewhat of a rough landing.”
The plane took a substantial impact to its main and nose gear as well as structural damage after hitting the ground in the area of a runway that runs parallel to Hwy. 404, Const. Phillips added.
None of the three people on board were injured.
An investigation into how the incident happened continued this morning.
The crash landing at Buttonville was the second high-profile incident involving an out-of-control plane over the weekend.
Also yesterday, a pilot, reportedly an Ottawa-area man in his 60s, was killed after a crash at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, on the 7th Line of Oro-Medonte Township, north of Barrie.
At about 10:30 a.m., the man was flying alone in an RV3, what Ontario Provincial Police described as a home-built kit plane.
Police believe the pilot was attempting a landing when the plane crashed, killing him.
On April 16, a Piper Aztec plane with two pilots on board running a commercial operation ran into an issue when its front nose gear, used for landing, would not drop down.
After discovering the malfunction, the pilot circled the plane over Lake Ontario, reportedly trying to burn off fuel before attempting a landing.
A plan to bring the plane into Buttonville airport was established, but while it was en route, a backup system was engaged and the landing gear dropped down.
The Piper Aztec eventually landed at Buttonville and no one was hurt.