Japanese plane makes unscheduled landing in Whitehorse

A large Nippon Cargo Airlines plane made an unscheduled landing at the Whitehorse airport.

The 747 freighteraircraft was met by emergency crews when itlanded early Thursday morning.

Fire crews from the airport and the city of Whitehorse responded. There was no visible smoke or fire.

It's unusual for airplanes of that size to land at the Whitehorse airport.

An official with Nippon Cargo Airlines said a faulty indicator was the reason for an emergency landing.

Shawn McWhorter said the plane was flying from New York to Anchorage, but was diverted when an instrument panel indicated there was a fire on the lower deck, when in reality there wasn't.

Jennifer Gehmair, with Yukon Highways and Public Works, said the incident began at 7:10 a.m. when the pilots declared the emergency.

Gehmair said NAV Canada told them to land in Whitehorse.

"NAV Canada subsequently contacted the airport manager to notify them of the airplane's pending arrival. The airport activated the emergency coordination centre at 7:20, the airport fire crews responded immediately and were on scene for the planes touchdown at 7:29," she said.

Gehmair said the cargo plane landed without incident and the five crew members disembarked safely. They were later met by customs officials.

The airline said the crew is resting, and should be onits way by sometime this evening.