Airplane damaged after Air Nunavut training flight lands wheels up
King Air 200 made a belly landing around 1 p.m. ET Sunday
A pilot training with Air Nunavut in Iqaluit Sunday had an unwelcome surprise during a test flight — the plane had to make a belly landing, which means its wheels didn't help land the plane.
The King Air 200 was part of a training flight, according to the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
The incident happened around 1 p.m. ET on the runway at the Iqaluit Airport, delaying some departing flights for up to two hours.
The TSB says the plane was damaged, though they can't say exactly how or where. Officials are interviewing the pilots of the plane later Sunday, which is when they will find out exactly what went wrong during the flight.
The airport's runway was temporarily closed for about 1.5 hours while crews hustled to get the plane off the airstrip.
The plane was finally removed around 2:30 p.m. ET with the help of two forklifts.
The TSB says it will have more information about the incident Monday.
With files from Patrick Nagle, Vince Robinet, Nick Murray