A light Cherokee Cruiser aircraft crash-landed at Langley's Regional Airport late afternoon on Wednesday (Jan. 11)
The student pilot from the Langley Flying School was doing touch-and go exercises when he veered off the runway and bounced across the berm which was built to protect the hangars lining the runway from such collisions.
Airport manager George Miller said that the pilot was taken to Langley Memorial Hospital, "suffering minor injuries."
Damage to the plane was mainly to the nose and propeller.
Paul and Olga Steenhuisen from South Surrey witnessed the accident.
"We saw the plane come in to land, and it seemed to lose control," Olga Steenhuisen said.
"The nose went down and the plane started bouncing and went off the runway."
The runway was immediately shut down to all air traffic.
Emergency services responded within minutes and firefighters from Murrayville fire hall remained at the scene until the plane was towed to a hangar at the airport where it will be repaired.
- by Ingrid Brunkhorst Hurrell