Transport Canada Examiner Alex Bahlsen Was Flying The Aircraft When It Went Down

Canadian officials are reporting that flight instructor and Transport Canada Examiner Alex Bahlsen was fatally injured when his Piper Aerostar went down last Tuesday in southwest British Columbia.

The CBC reports that the B.C. Coroners Service and the RCMP said there were "multiple fatalities" in the accident, but have not confirmed how many people were aboard the aircraft when it went went down.

More than a dozen first responders and multiple ambulances were dispatched to the accident scene, according to the report. A TSB team of three investigators were dispatched to the scene. They reported that there is a "significant debris field" and that the aircraft as "extensively broken up due to high impact forces."

The flight had originated at Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, CA (KBIH) en route to Nanaimo. Authorities said Bahlsen was conducting an instrument approach to Runway 16 at Nanaimo Airport (YCD) when it went down.

The airport is on Gabriola Island, one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland Canada and Vancouver Island.  

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: Source report