Small plane lands safely with flat tire at Charlottetown airport

Officials at the Charlottetown airport said a flight from Halifax landed safely despite coming in with a flat tire.

Charlottetown Airport Authority CEO Doug Newson said emergency crews were ready for a worst-case scenario, but the landing went off without a hitch.

"City of Charlottetown fire department, Charlottetown Police Services, EMS did respond," said Newson Tuesday. "Fortunately the plane did land safely without incident on the runaway, and even by the time they arrived the plane had already landed safely."

The plane was a single-engine unit, and the pilot was the only person on board.

Not a regular occurrence

Newson said situations like this one are rare for Charlottetown, and many other smaller airports. There was only one similar situation last year in Charlottetown, but he said it is good to practice now and then.

"We're always on standby for events and we have fire coverage here for 18 hours a day and after that for commercial flights," he said. "Our staff is well trained in the event that something did happen, and things like today are a good chance to test your procedures to make sure that things are working properly. "

Newsonsaid to the best of his knowledge the pilot was unharmed and there was no further damage to the aircraft besides the flat fire.

The plane was pushed into its hanger after thepilot managed to get it stopped.

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