Disabled plane forces brief closure of main runway at Regina airport

The main runway at the Regina airport was closed for about 50 minutes Tuesday after a private plane had an issue.

In a tweet, the airport said that at about 12:20 p.m., a Cessna with one person on board had become “disabled” on runway 13-31, causing the closure of the runway. A followup tweet at about 1:10 p.m., said the plane had been removed.

James Bogusz, the president and CEO of the Regina Airport Authority, said a plane from the Regina Flying Club reported an emergency as it approached the airport.

“Fortunately, the aircraft did land, but unfortunately, it appeared the front nose gear had collapsed or had some sort of failure and as a result, the aircraft became disabled on our main runway …,” Bogusz said.

“We don’t know the cause. All we know is the result, which is what we arrived to.”

There weren’t any injuries.

Another runway — 08-26 — remained open during the cleanup, so there weren’t any delays because the only planes operating at the time didn’t need the main runway.

However, until the plane could be towed back to the flying club, the runway was closed to bigger jets.

Bogusz said the airport’s firefighters have to respond “a few times a year” to incidents, given there are between 45,000 and 50,000 takeoffs and landings every year.

“Sometimes aircraft may have warning lights that come on or other issues where it causes the pilot concern, so our airport firefighters always respond in a posture in case something happens — and today, something did,” Bogusz said.

At approximately 12:20, a privately owned Cessna aircraft is disabled on runway 13-31.
1 soul on board, no injuries. Runway 13-31 closed, Runway 08-26 still active.
Crews are working on removal of aircraft, some delays may occur.

— YQR – Regina International Airport (@FlyYQR) July 26, 2022