After several tense moments on Tuesday morning at the Kootenay Regional Airport in Castlegar, a twin engine airplane was able to safely land after its gear landing light malfunctioned.
“It was not a real serious event,” said Gerry Rempel, Castlegar Fire Chief and Airport Manager.
“There was a twin engine aircraft reporting that its’ landing gear was not indicating down. So the flight service called us and we went out and did a standby for it until he landed.”
The plane was able to land safely as the gear landing equipment was working properly.
“We followed him until he was off the runway,” said Rempel. “It turned out to be a problem with the indicator light for the nose wheel. The problem is you don’t really know until you land whether it’ s locked or not. In this case, it was the indicator light - the gear was locked. But you’re never really sure if it’s the gear or the light.”
Both people on the plane were unharmed during the ordeal.
“Two people were on board and everything was fine in the end,” said Rempel.
“There was an experienced pilot so that wasn’t an issue.”
Rempel said fire crews were able to get to the airport quickly and were ready in case their was a collapse.