Pelican Narrows-bound Flight Forced To Abort

Pelican Narrows-bound Flight Forced To Abort

Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 14:45

Fire trucks were called out to the Prince Albert airport this morning after a plane was forced to make an unexpected landing.

The Cessna 401 was being flown by Dr. Kobus Steyn, who was making a routine trip to Pelican Narrows along with a colleague.

However, shortly after leaving the airport, Steyn says he noticed smoke and oil coming from the left engine — at which point, the plane made its way back to the airport.

Steyn says the problem was a serious one, but he notes it was his decision to shut down the engine.

He stresses he didn’t lose the engine, which would have been a more serious situation.

The manager at the airport says the plane landed safely.

The incident happened around 9:30 a.m.