A plane ended its course in a snowbank on Thursday evening at the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.

The incident closed the airport for two hours and caused a Whitehorse-bound Air Canada flight to be diverted.

The TinTina Air Citation Jet Cessna 50 suffered a brake deficiency after landing around 6:12 p.m., Tintina Air owner Dave Sharp told the Star today.

One of the brakes failed, which steered to the airplane off the runway into a snowbank, he said.

The incident happened at low speed and didn’t result in any injury.

“The aircraft is not damaged – they had to dig it out,” Sharp said.

No passengers were on board at that time, as the company was repositioning its plane to Whitehorse.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) confirmed that brakes were the issue.

The first officer, who was flying the aircraft, reported having no braking action during landing.

The captain took over and reported poor braking from his side, TSB officials said.

“The plane veered off the right side and came to rest 10 feet from the runway edge in five inches of snow,” TSB spokesperson Chris Krepski told the Star today.

The TSB won’t conduct a full investigation Krepski said, but will follow up to find out why the brakes malfunctioned.

The airport closure caused Air Canada’s AC291 flight to be sent back to Vancouver.

“Once we ascertained the airport was operational, the flight re-launched last night from Vancouver, arriving in Whitehorse shortly after midnight, approximately four hours after scheduled arrival,” Air Canada spokesperson Angela Mah told the Star.

“As it is the same crew that operates our morning flight from Whitehorse to Vancouver, that flight is delayed to accommodate the crew’s required crew rest, and we expect AC288 to depart around noon today.”

Planes like the Citation are equipped with reverse thrust, allowing pilots to invert the aircraft engine’s power and slow down.

But that can only be used at high speed, Sharp said.

Once the plane reached half of his landing speed, brakes are used.

At low speed, the plane’s rudder – the part at the back of the plane used to control the plane’s movements in the air – is of limited use.