Loss of cabin pressure forced Air North flight to Whitehorse to land in Prince George
Passengers onboard an Air North flight to the Yukon endured a surprise landing in Prince George, B.C., Wednesday.
The plane was headed for Whitehorse from Vancouver Wednesday afternoon.
Gary Lewis, who was on the flight, said the plane encountered turbulence, and then the pilot asked them to fasten their seatbelts.
"Oxygen masks all dropped in our laps and the plane got quite quiet," Lewis said.
"A few people got a little nervous and scared. Probably everyone had some nervousness, a little bit of anxiety, but they got down quickly to where the cabin didn't need to be pressurized and the risk and the threat was over. But it was kind of a heart-stopping moment there for a couple of minutes."
The pilot told passengers the flight was grounded due to a loss of cabin pressure, according to a recording from on board the flight. CBC was unable to confirm the pilot's name.
"At no point there was any danger, structural danger, nothing like that to the flight," the pilot said once the plane was on the ground. "I'd like to say it's not that big of a deal, but unfortunately for you guys, it seems a little bit worse than it is."
Air North president and CEO Joe Sparling, speaking to CBC News Thursday afternoon, said his crew was looking into what caused the issue.
"It was not a complete loss of cabin pressure, but the cabin was climbing on them, so the crew followed all the company procedures and elected to firstly, descend, and then divert to an alternate airport."
Some passengers told CBC there'd been a warning at the beginning of the flight that there was something wrong with the door and that it could be an uncomfortable journey.
Sparling did not refute that claim.
"There apparently was a whistle coming from the main cabin door," he said, "which may or may not be related to the pressurization issue."
Air North staff, he added, were investigating the plane, which had since returned to the hangar in Whitehorse.
After the plane landed, passengers were taken inside the airport and given food and drinks.
In a Facebook post, Air North said both the passengers and the aircraft arrived safely in Prince George, and it sent in a replacement aircraft to pick up the passengers.
That flight arrived back in Whitehorse just before 11 p.m. Wednesday.
