B.C. man uninjured in emergency landing

By Tara Nelson

A Delta, B.C. man was uninjured after an ememergency landing in a field near Blaine airport December 22.

According to police and witness reports, Kevin Littlejohn, was flying his 1957 Piper Tri-pacer during a series of touch and gos at approximately 2:30 p.m., when his plane lost power at 300 feet.

Blaine police sergeant Ryan King said Littlejohn was able to make an emergency landing in a vacant field just north of Fern Street.

“The aircraft landed on its wheels but when it hit a soft spot in the land, it caught the nose of the plane and caused it to flip over,” he said.
Littlejohn, the pilot and sole occupant of the plane, received a minor cut to his hand and was treated at the scene.

King said it was the first engine failure accident involving an airplane near Blaine during his 15 years of service.“We’ve had some minor incidents,” he said. “When the airstrip was narrower and shorter, pilots would sometime go off the runway and lose some lights, but nothing like this.”

Blaine resident Bob Aiken said he was at the Blaine airport at the time of the accident and heard the plane’s engine go silent.

“The guy just touched down and was making his third round of touch and gos and then all of a sudden, it just went quiet,” he said. “He did a beautiful approach into a field on the south side of Pipeline Road. By the time we got to the scene, Mr. Littlejohn was crawling around and trying to get back into the airplane. He looked up at us and said, ‘Guys don’t worry about it.’”

King said the pilot said the engine failure was caused by fuel starvation. The amount of damage to the plane is not known.