Runway to be closed for 'at least several days' after cargo jet incident at Vancouver airport

One of the runways at Vancouver International Airport will be closed for several days after a jet carrying Amazon packages overran it Tuesday morning.

The Prime Air Boeing 767-300 operated by Cargojet went off the eastern boundary of the north runway when it landed around 1:45 a.m. The three crewmembers aboard the flight from Hamilton, Ont., were uninjured and got off the plane safely, a spokesperson for YVR told CTV News.

Tamara Vrooman, airport president and CEO, provided an update on the incident and how it is impacting airport operations at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

She said the airport received a call from the control tower that the plane needed to make an emergency landing, but that details about what triggered the call will be determined through an investigation by Canada's Transportation Safety Board.

"Our folks are part of that investigation and sharing information that we have along with the operator, the pilots, the control tower and everybody involved, and we await the results of that review," Vrooman said.

The process of removing the plane can only begin once the TSB investigation is complete, which makes the timeline for reopening the runway uncertain.

"We do believe at this time that it could take a few days, if not longer, to dislodge the aircraft, given it is in the grass, it's very heavy, we have to get the cargo off the plane," Vrooman explained.

Despite the runway's proximity to a busy road and outlet mall, Vrooman says there was no risk of the plane continuing to skid beyond the airport's boundaries.

"We have a very secure perimeter," she said.

No flights were cancelled Tuesday and Vrooman said only about five per cent of the 600 flights arriving at and departing from YVR experienced delays.

Travellers are, however, urged to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.