A pilot was sent to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries after being forced to make an emergency landing at Qualicum Beach Airport on Sunday night.
According to the Town of Qualicum Beach, a pilot flying a Cessna 172 landed just offsite the airport runway at around 7:45 p.m. on July 24.
“Only the pilot was aboard the plane and has now been transported by Medivac to hospital for treatment,” the town said.
“The pilot is reported to be in serious condition.”
RCMP and local fire departments responded to the scene prompting the airport to remain closed as emergency crews rendered aid, town officials said.
“The plane went over our house, sounding like it was ‘missing’ and very rough; then no sound,” one resident said in an emailed statement.
According to police, the pilot was the lone occupant of the plane and crashed into a ditch near a tree line beyond Qualicum Beach Airport’s eastern perimeter.
“The Transportation Safety Board, Town of Qualicum Beach and the BC Ministry of Environment were notified of the incident and the Transportation Safety Board has since assumed conduct of the crash investigation,” RCMP added.
A GoFundMe has since been set up for the pilot, a young man identified as “Akhilesh.”
“Akhi has recently graduated as a Commercial Pilot and he is about to start his career as a professional pilot,” says the organizer of the fundraiser. “Akhilesh is loved by many in the aviation community, and he is a vibrant young man with a second-to-none personality with a life full of dreams ahead of him.”
The GoFundMe is aimed at relieving some of the “financial stress” associated with the pilot’s recovery.
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