But Seven Lost When Plane Crashes On Thormanby Island
Seven persons onboard a Grumman
Goose were lost Sunday when their amphibious plane crashed Sunday
off the coast of British Columbia... but one passenger survived the
fiery accident.
The Canadian Press reports the aircraft, flying for Pacific
Coastal Airlines (similar to type shown at right), was reported
missing Sunday morning. The Vancouver Sun adds the plane was en
route from Vancouver to Powell River, and then a hydroelectric
power work site at Toba Inlet.
Search crews found the wreckage at approximately 2:15 pm local
time on south Thormanby Island, a remote island west of the
Sunshine Coast. Their search was made more difficult by mist and
low clouds over the island; it's not yet known whether those
conditions may have been causal to the accident.
Capt. Rob Mulholland piloted the Canadian Forces Cormorant
helicopter that transported crews to the scene. He told reporters
it appeared the plane impacted trees, cutting a large path through
the wooded area near the top of a steep hillside.
"The first thing that I thought when I saw it was that there was
no way that anyone could have survived," Mulholland said. "It was a
very violent impact. The aircraft was broken apart into many
pieces, a large debris field with many post-crash fires."
As officials secured the accident site, a man emerged from brush
near the beach wrapped in a yellow sheet, and waving his arms. "His
face was burned, his chest was burned, his hands were burned and he
had some gashes on his body," said rescue team spokesman Drew
McKee.
While being transported to a nearby hospital at Half Moon Bay,
the 35-year-old man told authorities he had been napping when the
plane crashed, and he believed he had been knocked out for several
minutes after impact.
"He didn't have to fight his way out of the plane, because it
was in pieces," McKee said. "He got out, and pretty close to after
he got out, the plane went up with a whoomph."
The man's name has not been released, and authorities have not
disclosed the identities of the seven fatalities in the crash.
Spencer Smith, vice-president of Pacific Coastal, said the pilot
who was killed in the crash was highly experienced. "I don't know
what to tell you," he said. "There's nothing good about this. It
wouldn't take very many people to figure what it feels like, if
they have any sense of empathy."
The accident is the second this year for the family-run charter
airline.
As ANN reported, in August five people were
killed when another Goose crashed on Vancouver Island. The
investigation into that accident is ongoing, though officials with
Canada's Transportation Safety Board noted no evidence has been
found of a mechanical problem with the aircraft.
Pacific Coastal operates 26 aircraft -- a mix of deHavilland
Beaver floatplanes and Grumman Goose amphibs, along with Saab
340As, Beech 1900s and Shorts S360s. The Sun reports the plane lost
in Sunday's crash had been chartered by Peter Kiewit & Sons
Inc, a contract construction firm.