Motorists caught an unusual sight Tuesday as a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park. Several videos shared to social media showed a small prop plane parked in the right lane of the highway. David and Elaine Gulock, who are visiting Banff National Park from Michigan, were driving eastbound after spending the day hiking in Lake Louise when they saw were shocked to see an aircraft flying directly towards them. “I saw this plane come around the mountain, and he was kind of on a 45 heading down,” David said. Elaine captured video of the landing. “Our first thought was, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to crash,’” she said. The couple watched as the pilot levelled the plane and turned toward the westbound lanes. “He was able to find a nice big clear spot on the westbound side, and he landed, and everything turned out good,” Elaine said. RCMP say the single-engine aircraft experienced a mechanical issue that forced the pilot to find a spot to land just before 3 p.m. The pilot managed to make the landing just east of the Red Earth Animal Crossing near Castle Junction. Mounties say there were no injuries during the landing, and the plane remained intact as it touched down. There were no vehicles on that stretch of highway as the plane made its landing. RCMP public information officer Cpl. Mathew Howell said the pilot was also an airplane mechanic and was able to make repairs to the aircraft at the scene. The highway was closed while the plane was prepared for takeoff. Howell said the response involved coordination between RCMP, Parks Canada and the Transportation Safety Board. “It was a lot of moving parts for something that obviously isn’t a day-to-day occurrence, but between everything going on, they were able to figure out the best way to do it and to keep everyone safe at the same time,” he said. The pilot managed to take off from the highway at around 4:40 p.m. and flew the plane back to Springbank Airport. The incident marks another recent emergency plane landing on an Alberta highway, where a small plane made an emergency landing in Strathcona County last week. For the Gulocks, the unusual sight became an unexpected part of their trip through the Canadian Rockies. “We only thought we were going to be videoing animals, and so it was a bit odd to see a plane landing on the highway like this,” Elaine said. With files from Cassidy McMackon
