A small plane made an emergency landing this afternoon in a field just off Bank Street in Ottawa’s south end. Amazingly the pilot missed houses and play structures and both he and the passenger walked away with no injuries. It happened around 2:30 in a field off Ledbury Avenue. Tucked in among the trees, just past the ball diamond, the single engine plane is barely visible. Two boys were outside when they saw it go silently by.
‘I saw the airplane go like this,’ says Benit Murhula, as he motions downward with his hands, ‘and me and my friend ran into the community house and said we saw a plane crash.’
‘I thought the plane was about to hit the basketball court,’ adds Frantz Paul, ‘but it hit the forest.’Ottawa Fire Services Captain Ron Robinson says the pilot did an amazing job. He managed to clear a building, flew over the baseball diamond, skidded across the field and into some trees. Both he and his passenger managed to walk away without any injuries. The single-engine, two-seater plane belongs to Ottawa Aviation Services. It’s believed to be a German built Burkhart Grob While someone at the office would confirm it was one of their planes, the owner was not available for additional information. Police say the pilot was an instructor flying with a female friend.
‘When we arrived on scene,’ says Sergeant Rick Giroux, ‘there were two occupants. They were both out of the aircraft, walking, not injured, checked by an ambulance and none sustained injuries.’
Paula Oakley says with so many kids in the Ledbury community she feared the worst when she heard a plane had landed in the field.
‘When the kids said a plane crashed,’ says Oakkley, ‘that's my biggest fear living here so close to the airport and the kids said he landed in the park. So I thought there would be a big fire, we would have to be evacuated and when I got outside, I thought “Where’s the plane? It’s hidden in the trees.’
Ottawa fire used foam to soak up a small fuel spill at the site. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
