An Alkan Air aircraft made a non-routine landing in Whitehorse on Thursday morning due to mechanical problems affecting the landing gear.

Wendy Tayler, the aviation company’s president and CEO, told the Star one of its main aircraft returned to Whitehorse with a potential landing gear issue.

The plane landed without incident with two crew members on board. The aircraft was a Dornier Do 228, a twin-turboprop utility aircraft. Tayler said the crew was landing at their destination, an exploration property in southeast Yukon, when they noticed mechanical issues while landing.

Following procedure, the crew immediately returned to Whitehorse and used the craft’s back-up landing gear to touch down without incident.

The aircraft had emergency vehicles available to them upon landing on the tarmac. Tayler noted this is “standard airport procedure” in case of an emergency on landing.

Maintenance crew members are examining the landing gear.

“Aircraft, from time to time, run into mechanical issues of this type,” Tayler said.

“As a result, the aviation industry has done an exceptional job of ensuring there are back-up systems in the aircraft that are available to air crew.”