Jean Lapierre's brother-in-law aboard flight that makes emergency landing

A plane headed for the Magdalen Islands from Quebec City was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday evening at an airport on Quebec's Gaspé coast.

• Aviation experts question decision to take off
• Jean Lapierre among 7 killed in Îles-de-la-Madeleine crash

The Pascan Aviation plane landed at Bonaventure Airport a little after 7 p.m.  

None of the 14 people on board were injured.

One of the passengers, Denis Fréchette, is the brother-in-law of Jean Lapierre, the political commentator and former Liberal cabinet minister who was among seven killed in a plane crash on Tuesday.

Fréchette was on his way to join his wife Laure Lapierre, who was already in the Magdalen Islands.

Tuesday's crash took the lives of Jean Lapierre, his sister and two brothers. Laure Lapierre is now the only surviving sibling.

Sûreté du Québec said a mechanical problem was behind the emergency landing.

Engine had to be shut down

Pascan Aviation, a regional airline based in Saint-Hubert, makes regular flights from Quebec City to the Magdalen Islands with a stopover in Bonaventure, Que.

Yani Gagnon, of Pascan Aviation, said the crew noticed there was a problem with an engine as the twin-turboprop, British Aerospace Jetstream began its descent into Bonaventure Airport.

"The settings in the engine showed a loss of power and according to the protocol, which was followed to the letter, an emergency engine shutdown was initiated as a precaution," Gagnon told Radio-Canada. 

Yvette Fortier, another passenger, told Radio-Canadian the plane tried to lighten its load for the emergency landing.

"We turned around in circles to drain the fuel to have as little as possible," she said.

Fréchette told Radio-Canada that the airline handled the incident professionally.

He said three ambulances and a fire crew responded as soon as the aircraft landed.

Gagnon said mechanics were on their way to the scene Thursday morning, and Transport Canada would investigate the details of the incident. 

Several passengers from the flight arrived in the Magdalen Islands safely aboard another flight that arrived at 11:20 a.m.

An 11 a.m. flight was pushed to 2:30 p.m., which Fréchette and the other passengers were expected to board.