West Wind Grounds Planes Involved In Incidents

Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 13:36

 

 

The vice-president of West Wind Aviation says investigators are trying to determine why two of the company’s planes were forced to make emergency landings yesterday.

 

Chris Tabler says the first incident involved a charter flight for Cameco employees travelling from Saskatoon to Key Lake.

 

A window in the cockpit blew out and the cabin became depressurized, forcing the crew to return to the airport.

 

In the second incident, a King Air 100 plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Regina due to problems with its landing gear.

 

Tabler says mechanics are inspecting both planes to see what damage may have occurred and Transport Canada is also investigating.

 

In the meantime, both planes have been grounded until further notice.

 

Tabler says the loss of the two planes will slightly impact their operations, but the company should be fine.

 

He says West Wind stands behind its safety record and takes the incidents quite seriously.

 

Still, he says for an airline to encounter two mishaps in the same day is extremely rare.

 

West Wind Aviation makes several flights to and from northern Saskatchewan each week, and is partially owned by the Prince Albert Grand Council and Meadow Lake Tribal Council.