Historic plane's final trip to U.S. interrupted by emergency landing near Victoria

The Second World War-era Philippine Mars water bomber is shown in Port Alberni, B.C. on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (CTV News)

A rare and historic water bomber that was on its final journey from British Columbia to a museum in Arizona was forced to make an emergency landing near Victoria due to mechanical issues.

The Victoria Airport Authority confirmed the Philippine Mars, one of two remaining aircraft of its kind, had to land at the airport's water aerodrome at Patricia Bay on Sunday due to mechanical problems.

Brentwood Bay, B.C., resident John Harper is with the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue and was on the water nearby when the coast guard warned boaters of the plane making an "emergency landing."

Harper says the plane landed at around 1:20 p.m. on Sunday then spent about 40 minutes "doing circles" in the water before being moored.

He says that only three of the four engines on the plane were running when it landed on the water.

The aircraft owned by Coulson Aviation, based in Port Alberni, B.C., had taken off earlier in the day en route to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz., and was scheduled to stop in San Francisco before sunset to clear customs.

The flight had been closely followed by aviation enthusiasts online, and posts on social media by those tracking it reported the plane turned around after nearly reaching the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

Harper says the Philippine Mars had passed over the airport in a planned flyby an hour before, so he was surprised to see it come back for a landing.

"There was a lot of excitement on-board our boat when we were watching this during manoeuvres, and then realizing that it was going to land and hearing the coast guard broadcast," he says.

"It's sad for me because it didn't get where it's going, and now it's in a difficult situation."

Coulson, which has not responded to requests for comment, said in a statement on Dec. 12 that the plane had another earlier departure interrupted by "a maintenance issue," prompting the aircraft to return to Sproat Lake near Port Alberni.

The sister aircraft of the Philippine Mars, the Hawaii Mars, was donated to the B.C. Aviation Museum in the Victoria area.

The planes are the last two remaining Martin Mars flying boats, cargo aircraft built in the 1940s for military use and later converted for civilian firefighting purposes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.