Collided With Two Other Aircraft While Attempting To Take Off

Police in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada are investigating the attempted theft of a Seair float plane from the Vancouver Harbor Flight Center Friday afternoon.

CTV News reports that the suspect, who has not been apprehended, got into one of the aircraft and began taxiing away from the center at about 0330 Friday morning local time. The suspect was reportedly operating the aircraft at a high enough rate of speed to shear off one of the wings of the seaplane he was operating, as well as causing damage to two other airplanes in the harbor.

Constable Tania Visintin said that the suspect was not able to get the airplane off the water, which was probably a good thing. Const. Visintin said that when authorities arrived on the scene, they were unable to locate the person who attempted to steal the aircraft.

The companies that owned the damaged aircraft are Seair and Harbour Air. Both said they were cooperating with authorities. A spokesperson for Transport Canada said that the agency is looking into the incident, but noted that "water aerodrome operators are responsible for their own security measures."

A spokesman for the Vancouver Harbour Flight Center said that the gates to its docks where aircraft are moored are always locked. “We have a number of proactive security measures in place 24/7 however, for public safety reasons, we cannot disclose specific details pertaining to our security and safety measures,” they said in a statement.

Police are reportedly going through security video footage in an attempt to get a good description of the suspect.

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: Source report