Officials in the Canadian city of Winnipeg have launched a review after a two-year-old rescue dog was shot and killed after she slipped out of her crate at the city’s airport and scampered on to the runway, forcing one flight to abort its landing.

Airport authorities received a call about a dog on the tarmac earlier this week. The dog, later identified as a golden labrador mix named Greta who was being shipped from a northern Manitoba community to a Winnipeg foster home, had seemingly chewed through her plastic kennel and bolted after staff opened the plane door.

Airport staff initially tried to corral her into a safe area, but had little success. “The dog ran across an active runway, which caused a flight coming in from Las Vegas to be diverted. It had to abort its landing,” Tyler MacAfee of the Winnipeg Airports Authority told broadcaster CTV. Other planes were forced to divert their path, he added.

The dog’s escape took place in the afternoon, as flights were taking off and landing every few minutes, he said. Eventually authorities decided they had little option but to use lethal force – their first time on a pet since 2007.

As part of the review, airline authorities have offered to sit down with Manitoba Mutts Dog Rescue – the group who was transporting the dog – to go over techniques and tactics in the future, said MacAfee.

“Quite clearly, we didn’t want her to be hit by a plane. That would have been more painful than the way she passed away,” Rebecca Norman of the group told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

“And we also didn’t want the planes to crash or people to get hurt. So they did everything they could for her and for the planes to land.”