REGINA — Regina International Airport has had to deal with a second incident so far this year of a flight having to make an emergency landing.
This time, it was a WestJet Encore Q400 turboprop aircraft that was flying from Winnipeg to Saskatoon. It ended up diverted to Regina because of a failure to one of the engines.
James Bogusz, CEO of Regina Airport Authority, said that there was a declared emergency at 6:20 p.m. on Nov. 12 involving that aircraft. The airport was alerted at that particular time of the emergency, and he said the plane landed without incident at about 6:45 pm.
This latest emergency landing comes on the heels of another emergency landing at the airport on July 15, when Porter Airlines Flight 483 from Hamilton to Vancouver was diverted to Regina after a smell of smoke in the cabin.
Bogusz said as was the case last time, this latest incident brought out the full response from the airport and its mutual aid partners. They also activated their Emergency Operations Centre.
“Anytime there’s a declared emergency, the Regina airport and its mutual air partners — so this includes the City of Regina Fire, city police, EMS — they respond to the site in case something happens,” Bogusz said.
“So they did that very thing. This is exactly how we practised and trained, not dissimilar to what happened not that long ago with the Porter flight when they had that declared emergency.”
All of that took place in a relatively short period of time, he said. Bogusz said after the plane landed it was subsequently towed to the main airport terminal.
Those passengers who had been on the flight disembarked, and Bogusz said WestJet took over arrangements for the passengers after that, with some going by bus to Saskatoon or taking other flights. In total there were 73 people on board the aircraft.
There could be a number of different reasons why a plane can be diverted and have to make an emergency landing, Bogusz said, including medical reasons. He said the airport has to to be prepared for a response suitable to any emergency situation.
“I’m always reluctant to call it a well oiled machine, but I’ll be frank, we practise every two years, we do have the odd on-site emergency, so our team is well trained in the event of an emergency. We’re always hopeful of good outcomes which is what we had here with the WestJet flight,” said Bogusz.
Bogusz said “safety and security” is a priority for the airport, and paid tribute to the work of their partners in police, fire and EMS. “Their response is essential for an aircraft emergency like this.”
