A string of close calls at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport last month in which a plane cut off several other aircraft in midair has raised safety concerns.
It happened on July 4, as a privately-owned Cessna was flying from Langley to Pitt Meadows, according to an incident report.
“I have never in my career, never in all my years of covering aviation, seen an airplane cut three airplanes off and cause a fourth to divert,” said aviation journalist Mark Miller.
“I’d say it’s like going through three red lights.”
According to the report, the plane flew into the flight path of a Canadian Aviation College aircraft heading into a different runway.
When it was instructed to turn back, it ended up cutting off a Vancouver Aviation College and Monatir Aviation aircraft.
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A Pacific Rim Aviation Academy plane looking to land was also told to leave the area to avoid the Cessna’s “unexpected turns.”
“He was talking to the tower, but for whatever reason he wasn’t following the instructions, he was confused. It’s really difficult to understand what went wrong here,” Miller said.
“Every time they gave this guy instructions he seemed to get it wrong and seemed to create confusion and cause other airplanes to have to take action, so it was very dangerous.”
No one was hurt in the incident, though several planes were forced to delay takeoff and six incoming planes were held away from the airport until it was safe to land.
The aviation schools affected declined to comment.
The pilot of the Cessna has not been identified, nor have their actions been explained.
Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board said they couldn’t comment without more information.
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