Undercarriage brake failure appears to be the cause of a plane crash at the Quamichan Lake (Raven Field) Airport near Duncan.
The pilot was able to walk away with no major injuries, according to flying enthusiast John Howroyd, the property’s owner.
Neighbours had wondered if Howroyd had been behind the controls but he confirmed he was not.
“It was a friend of mine that was landing here and one of the undercarriage brakes failed and it just swung the airplane sideways and unfortunately mangled with my gate,” he explained. “We had a problem there but we’ve got it all cleared up.”
Howroyd noted the plane had already landed and was not travelling very quickly at the time of impact.
“One of the carriage brakes failed. We don’t have a video running or anything to see exactly what happened but that’s what it looks like happened,” he said. “When the undercarriage brake failed it dropped the left-hand wing onto the grass and that was enough to pull the airplane to the left and into the gate.”
North Cowichan’s South End firefighters responded to the incident shortly after 10 a.m. Friday morning.
RCMP and the BC Ambulance Service also attended.
The Quamichan Lake (Raven Field) Airport is a private airport located at the end of Henderson Road off Stamps road, just north of Quamichan Lake.
sarah.simpson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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