TSB to examine cause after 747 makes emergency landing in Saskatoon

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is looking into the cause of an emergency landing at the Saskatoon Airport.

A Boeing 747 carrying cargo made an emergency landing in Saskatoon on Thursday while the aircraft was flying between Cincinnati and Anchorage.

“We did receive notification that there was a 747 from Kalitta Air,” said CJ Dushinski, the airport’s vice-president of business development. “They did declare an emergency, and they did end up needing to divert to Saskatoon.”

Dushinski said there were seven crew members on board the plane, but there were no reported injuries after the emergency landing.

“The aircraft taxied off the runway and onto the apron on its own power,” she said.

Dushinski said a preliminary investigation indicated an alert from a sensor went off inside the cargo plane, suggesting a possible fire on board.

The fire suppression system was deployed, but it’s not clear yet whether or not it was a false alarm.

A witness told 650 CKOM he was driving north on Circle Drive when he saw the large plane coming in from the east. He said he headed toward the airport to take a better look.

“Even though it’s a cargo plane, it’s unusual for a 747 to land at our airport,” he said.

The witness said he saw several fire trucks and at least two Saskatoon Police vehicles on the tarmac to meet the plane, though he didn’t notice any smoke or visible damage to the aircraft.

“It was quite a ways away from the terminal,” he said. “It sat on the runway for a long time.”

A second 747 from Kalitta Air landed in Saskatoon at 10 a.m. on Friday to relieve the crew on the first plane and to deliver equipment needed for the investigation.