The owners of a small private plane were lucky to escape unhurt — and still have their wings — after a series of mishaps in an estuary near Courtenay, B.C.
Locals are being credited for saving the plane, after strangers came together on Canada Day to move the damaged aircraft before the tide came in.
The incident unfolded Tuesday afternoon, when the small craft was forced to make an emergency landing on the shoreline of the Courtenay River Estuary when it ran out of fuel.
“We heard the plane stalling as it flew past (my friends’) place, and thought that didn’t sound right,” said neighbour Janice Shell, who was among those who ultimately helped save the plane.
“We saw the pilot leaving, came back with a jerry can, headed back over to the plane and I guess they refilled,” added neighbour Barry Allen.
But things went from bad to worse for the plane’s two occupants when they tried to take off.
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After building up some speed on the beach, the aircraft pitched sharply up and came straight down on its nose.
“It went to go take off and it hit some bumps out there on the beach and it ended up kind of crashing — going almost up to a like a 180 up there, and then came back down and got stuck,” witness Owen Middleton said.
“If you can’t get a headwind, you’re not going to get out. You’ve got to have enough time to take off, and the debris in the area and that, it doesn’t help,” added Allen.
The estuary is adjacent to the Courtenay Air Park, and locals often come out to watch small aircraft take off and land.
Many of them leapt into action on Tuesday, working as a team to move the stranded aircraft before the tide rose.
“For Canada Day, we united to help these people out,” local Bonnie Lavallee said.
“Everybody just stepped in, even my doggie, and it was just effortless. We worked like an amazing team to get it above the tideline.”
The owners were back on site on Wednesday, this time with the help of a helicopter that lifted the damaged plane to safety.
“I feel relief for the guy. It looked like he rigged it up, he knew what he was doing, it went well,” said Shell, who came back to watch the unusual operation.
“You don’t see that every day.”
The Courtenay Fire Department said no one was hurt in the incident and that no fuel leaked into the estuary.
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