Two people were uninjured after a plane caught fire upon landing at the Qualicum Beach Airport on Sept. 16.
The plane, identified as a privately registered Globe Aircraft Corp. GC-1B, suffered a landing gear collapse on landing, according to the Transportation Safety Board.
"There was a post impact fire, and the aircraft was destroyed," the TSB said in an email to the PQB News.
The two pilots exited the aircraft and shortly after the plane started smoking and then lit on fire, according to Luke Sales, director of planning for the Town of Qualicum Beach.
"The plane was completely totalled, but neither of the pilots experienced any injuries," Sales said. "The emergency response plan was triggered by that hard landing and so the fire department came, the RCMP, ambulance and all the protocols were followed."
Qualicum Beach Fire Rescue responded and quickly put out the blaze, according to Friso McKenzie, deputy fire chief.
"There was a small, light fixed-wing aircraft in the middle of the runway that was fully involved and there was no passengers in it, so it wasn't a big deal to put out," McKenzie said.
A couple of bystanders attempted to put out the fire before the fire department arrived, he added.
The TSB is still gathering information and assessing the incident, but has not deployed investigators on site as of the morning of Sept. 19.
There was damage to the runway because of the heat of the plane burning, according to Sales, which was repaired in the evening and the airport was back in operation on Tuesday morning.
