How did KF get involved in this recovery mission?

It’s actually a bit of a coincidence, just last month Vancouver International Airport (YVR) reached out to KF to see if we would be interested in taking on recoveries of small and large aircraft (up to a B767). We are now their main point of contact, on call 24/7, to retrieve any aircraft that becomes stranded on the runway. For example, if a private aircraft gets a flat tire, our AMEs will be called out to help tug the plane off the runway. It just so happened that we completed our training a few weeks prior to this incident.

How did the events unfold?

Last Tuesday [July 15], we were all watching this Cessna fly around. Our Base Manager, Mohamed Olol, had alerted us over the radio that the aircraft was flying in circuits.

It was circling around low, mostly on the north side. From where our office is, we could see the lineup of aircraft waiting to go onto the runway. All the planes were at a ground stop.

We ended up getting a call for help from YVR once the Cessna landed and the RCMP had seized it. The only problem was that we hadn’t yet purchased our Cessna towbar, so we had to go on a hunt for one. The Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) Million Air was kind enough to lend us theirs. The Airport Security Officer (ASO) then escorted us over to the other side of the airport. I was driving our pushback tug that we use for the Convairs, and we were hearing the details of the incident directly from the police.

The aircraft was left on Taxiway M3—that’s where the police had chased the suspect and taken him into custody. They had the police dogs doing a search there, and then they granted us access to the aircraft. [KF AME] Leonardo Siew was our brake rider, required for safety reasons just in case the tow bar should disconnect. Our tug was a bit oversized for the Cessna, so we couldn’t go too fast. This was our first call out!

We had to tow the aircraft up multiple taxiways all the way to the other side of the airport, to Signature FBO, where we finally parked it. There were multiple police vehicles driving behind us with their lights flashing. It was kind of like a big parade. [KF Ground Support Equipment Mechanic] Yogin Bhagat also followed behind us in the KF van. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen cop cars crossing runways. It’s very unusual.

What did it feel like to be in the spotlight?

We were kind of excited because we knew we would be their recovery team. We wanted to make a good impression. Everyone was geared up for it.

There were tons of people and airport staff taking videos and photos of us, some of the coverage even made it to the New York Post!

The YVR ASO shook all our hands and said it was an excellent response and that they would be calling again. Who knows what call we could get next.