A pilot who was forced to make a crash landing at the Abbotsford Airport when his landing gear failed says he thought his number was up.
Ryan Curr was flying his newly purchased 54-year-old Piper Friday when he ran into some trouble.
Curr says he was still learning about the plane’s flying characteristics when its electrical landing gear failed to drop.
The plane’s back-up system and manual override wasn’t working either.
After he spent three hours burning fuel while trying to dislodge the jammed wheels, he realized he had no choice but to make a crash landing.
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Curr phoned his wife, dad, brother and mother to tell them he loved them.
“Just saying I love you and making sure they knew that just in case something didn’t go as planned,” Curr said. “There was a lot of tears.”
Curr’s wife, Nicola, and brother rushed to the airport.
As a paramedic, Curr knew all too well how badly a crash landing can end, but despite being relatively inexperienced, it was a perfect landing.
Curr even made sure the passenger door was open allowing him a quick exit if the airframe became twisted.
Nicola says although he will fly again, there may be some negotiations about when her husband will be back in the air.
“He loves to fly and when something like this happens you have to take a philosophical view about it and you can’t let it change your mind set with what you enjoy doing and the passions that you have,” she said.
The Transportation Safety Board is now looking into some maintenance done on the Piper’s landing gear just prior to this flight.
As for Curr, he’s already looking for a replacement aircraft, albeit one without retractable landing gear.
With files from Ted Cherneki
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