Scary but smooth: No injuries reported after Air Nunavut makes emergency landing in Rankin Inlet

A charter plane carrying two pilots and six people landed safely in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Tuesday night after it was forced to make an emergency landing, according to the airline that operates the plane. 

The Beechcraft King Air aircraft, operated by Air Nunavut, had taken off from Baker Lake and was supposed to land in Rankin Inlet when the pilot noticed its landing gear wasn't working. 

Lindsay Cadenhead, the director of operations for Air Nunavut, told CBC News there was an issue with the plane's nose wheel and the plane's front landing gear wasn't coming down normally. 

"If you don't have that, then obviously the airplane basically tips forward on its nose and it's not secure. It's critical piece of the landing gear," Cadenhead said. 

The plane circled Rankin Inlet a couple of times to burn off fuel as a precaution to make sure the plane was "as light as possible," Cadenhead said. 

"The pilot did a fantastic job and they stopped it on the runway and sure enough, the nose wheel wasn't where it should be."

Pasha Kaludjak, with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., was one of the six passengers onboard.

She said the landing was a scary moment.

"We could see Rankin and I kept thinking its right there, we're so close," she said.

"It was really scary and it seemed like it took forever to land but when we landed it was the smoothest ... emergency landing ever."

In a statement, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said the aircraft suffered damage to its nose, propellers and engines. 

The TSB also said it is investigating the cause of the incident and is gathering data. 

Cadenhead said it's too early to tell, but it seems like it was a mechanical failure. The plane was inspected before taking off in Baker Lake and everything seemed normal, he said. 

"From our perspective, there was no suggestion or indication that there was a problem potentially to be had with the airplane."

He said the airline will also submit a report to the TSB.

"There's a lot of unknowns at this point until we get inspect the airplane, take a look at it, and figure out what went wrong," Cadenhead said. 

He also said another plane of the same kind used by Air Nunavut is being inspected.

"It's unsettling for everybody, but under the circumstances, I couldn't have asked for a better result from the flight crew."