The crew members of a Buffalo Airways Boeing 737 were safe, the airline said, after it landed with a nose gear deployment problem at Yellowknife Airport on Monday evening.
The aircraft landed just before 5pm on runway 16/34, where it remained as of 7pm.
The runway has been closed since the incident according to Nav Canada notices issued to aviators. The airport has one shorter, unaffected runway that continues to operate.
Mikey McBryan, Buffalo Airways’ general manager, told Cabin Radio the aircraft – C-GTVO – had suffered a “nose gear issue.”
McBryan said everyone on board was OK and no medical attention was needed.
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Just after 7pm, he said a crew was working to recover the aircraft from the runway.
C-GTVO is a recent purchase for Buffalo and is the airline’s second Boeing 737. The plane is a 737-200 series – the company’s first – which can serve as a freighter and is equipped with a gravel kit, an increasingly rare feature among jet aircraft that allows it to land safely on the North’s gravel airstrips.
Though one of Yellowknife’s runways remained operational, there appeared to be some impact on other Monday evening flights.
Air Canada, for example, reported flight AC 255 to Vancouver was cancelled “because of a runway limitation, restriction, or closure” according to its flight status webpage.
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That flight was due to be operated by an Airbus A320. Fully loaded, those aircraft typically require more than 6,000 feet of runway for take-off.
While runway 16/34 is 7,500 feet in length, the sole functioning runway on Monday evening – runway 10/28 – is only 5,000 feet.
When the main runway might reopen was not immediately clear.
Emily Blake contributed reporting.
