Small aircraft makes emergency landing on Highway 21

By Joan Janzen

Finding a small aircraft parked by your farm isn't a common sight for most farmers. However, that's what Joan and Garry Wagner discovered when they arrived home from a trip to Medicine Hat Wednesday evening.

Two men were flying from Illinois to Calgary when heavy fog forced them to make an emergency landing on Highway 21 about 5 miles south of Liebenthal. PHOTO BY JOAN WAGNER

"We came home from Medicine Hat to find a plane in the approach beside our field," Joan reported after arriving at their farm located 5 miles south of Liebenthal. It was a mystery until they received a phone call from their friend Shirley Greenwald.

She was heading to Leader earlier that afternoon when she spotted two men who had made an emergency landing on Highway 21.

"They pushed the plane into our approach and got a ride to Leader," Joan reported. The men were flying from Illinois to Calgary to visit family when they were forced to land due to heavy fog and rain.

The travellers planned to spend the night at Leader and then transport their aircraft to the Leader airport to resume their flight to Calgary.