Plane Recently Delivered To Gov't

A Convair 580A air tanker on a training flight crashed in Saskatchewan Sunday, killing one of its pilots and injuring two others.

Investigators aren't yet sure what brought the aircraft (file photo of type, below) down about a mile from the La Ronge firefighting training center, and there were no witnesses to the crash. Saskatchewan's environment minister, John Nilson, said the plane was one of four recently-refurbished aircraft delivered to the Saskatchewan government in the last month.

"They are older planes that have been totally refurbished with new instrumentation and new engines on them, so they are like brand new airplanes," Nilson said.

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports a pilot from Conair Aviation in British Columbia -- the company that refurbished the planes -- was onboard the accident aircraft to help train the Saskatchewan pilots. No further details were revealed about those onboard the plane.

Nilson said the government purchased the planes based on their exemplary safety record -- before Sunday, he said, there had never been a fatal accident in that type of plane.

FMI: www.gov.sk.ca