Small plane ends up on road near Buttonville airport
Posted January 16, 2023 12:38 pm.
Last Updated January 16, 2023 3:19 pm.
Vehicles had to avoid a small plane that ended up on the road adjacent to Buttonville Airport on Monday afternoon.
The plane was seen on 16th Avenue, just east of Highway 404, near the airport in Markham.
Video shows a two-seater Slingsby T67C Firefly aircraft stationary on the road, as vehicles navigate around it.
CityNews spoke to a driver who says he was unable to totally avoid the aircraft, and actually ran over a part of it with his car.
“I saw the plane, it was sliding across the road. Holy s**t. I tried to avoid it, that’s it,” the driver named Doug, explained.
CityNews 680 Traffic reporter Kyle Hocking has been hovering over the scene in the traffic helicopter and described seeing skid marks at the end of one of the runways.
“This aircraft came right off the end of that runway, it looks like, down an embankment through a fence and ended up on 16th Avenue,” he described.
Hocking said the plane’s nose wheel is laying on the road, along with a piece of engine housing. The propeller was also damaged.
#CityStreets: An airplane has left the airport at Buttonville and is blocking lanes on 16th Avenue just east of the #404. pic.twitter.com/6uvUtIfYHC
— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) January 16, 2023
It’s not yet clear why the plane lost control and ended up on the road. It has since been towed away.
York regional police tell CityNews they responded to several calls about the errant aircraft and closed 16th Avenue between Woodbine Avenue and Highway 404 so the plane could be removed.
All roads have since reopened.
“Everyone is safe and accounted for,” police tweeted.
ROAD CLOSURE – Please avoid 16th Ave, between Woodbine Ave and Highway 404 in #markham for a small airplane crash near #buttonvilleairport @yrp Everyone is safe and accounted for at this time.
— YRP Duty Office (@YRPDutyOffice) January 16, 2023
Back in October 2021, a plane that had just taken off from Buttonville Airport had to make an emergency landing on Highway 407.
The pilot in the incident, identified as Ibrahim Kulom, managed to land the plane safely in the eastbound lanes of the highway near Woodbine Avenue after running into mechanical issues and realizing he would not be able to make it back to the airport.
RELATED: ‘We had no option’: Pilot describes decision to land plane on Hwy. 407
“We declared a mayday, let them know the situation — that we’re heading for the highway,” he said in an interview following the dramatic landing.
The pilot was lauded for his quick-thinking a skill.
“(He) made a perfect textbook landing,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said at the time.
