Small plane makes emergency landing on highway east of Edmonton

Strathcona County RCMP say a Cessna 172 touched down on Highway 21 with two people on board.

No injuries reported as Cessna 172 touches down with 2 people on board

CBC News

· Posted: Sep 16, 2026 9:16 AM EDT | Last Updated: 18 minutes ago

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Alberta RCMP say a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway east of Edmonton early Wednesday.

RCMP say a Cessna 172 plane, with two people on board, touched down on Highway 21 in Strathcona County and came to rest in the southbound lanes between Highway 16 and Baseline Road.

Police say the call came in around 1:30 a.m. and officers were dispatched to the scene.

There were no reports of other injuries or of any collisions between the aircraft and vehicles on the highway, RCMP said.

In an interview Wednesday, RCMP Const. Sandra Geiger said the occupants of the plane, a pilot and a passenger, were not injured.

It's unclear if any vehicles were on the highway when the plane touched down, she said.

"When the initial call out came in, there was no vehicles involved, which is a rather good thing," she said.

"I think part of that might have been the time of day in terms of the involvement. But I don't know if there was any vehicles that had to avoid the area." 

Alberta RCMP remained at the scene throughout the morning and the highway was closed for hours.

As of 7:30, the highway had been reopened to traffic after the plane was moved east off the highway and pushed onto the shoulder of a nearby range road.

The four-seat, single-engine, fixed wing aircraft — painted red and white — showed no apparent signs of damage.

RCMP say the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has been alerted to the incident and is expected to lead the investigation. 

In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, officials with the TSB said the aircraft lost engine power and was unable to maintain flight.

The forced landing on the highway happened around 1:15 a.m., resulting in no damage to the aircraft and no injury to the pilot or passenger.

The agency said it has no plans to deploy investigators to the scene but will continue to collect information and assess the circumstances of the forced landing.