While small aircraft are a normal sight at the Courtenay Airpark, they typically aren't seen on the pedestrian walking paths.
Passersby were surprised to see one plane had apparently broken through the fencing and was sitting on the pathway circling the local airport.
Photos show damage to some fencing at the north end of the Airpark.
Social media reports indicated that a student pilot was too high and too fast on his landing, and overshot the runway, going through the fence and onto the path. Thanks to some quick thinking and a shout from a bystander, any walkers got out of the way in time and there were no injuries reported.
Ray Henault, the president of the Courtenay Airpark, confirmed that a student was flying the plane. He said the plane, which is owned by Sealand Aviation School, was operated by a student performing touch and gos — landing and taking off again in short succession — when "for whatever reason he tried to stop before the end of the runway.
"The runway was wet this morning ... and the aircraft ended up going through the fence and onto the walkway."
Henault said that the plane was slightly damaged due to contacting the fence, but that all of the damage was repairable. There were no injuries.
"The RCMP and Fire Department were all here and helped with the recovery of the aircraft ... which was just pushed back up onto the taxi lane here on the runway."
The Airpark contacted the City of Courtenay, Transport Canada, the Canada Transportation Safety Board and insurance companies. The runway was re-opened by noon on Monday.
Henault said that this kind of incident is quite rare, but can happen from time to time.
"The Airpark is a pretty active airport," Henault said "I've been the president for around five years and I haven't seen anything like this happen. It has happened in the past, it's a short runway, and it requires a certain amount of pilot skills to operate out of here, but it's been perfect ever since I've been here."
