Trio escapes injury after plane crash
A soggy field likely helped three people escape injury after the small plane they were in crashed at Niagara District Airport in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Saturday.
Airport commission chairman Terry Flynn said the Cessna experienced engine failure at about 5:45 p.m. Saturday and landed nose-first in a field roughly 300 metres shy of the runway.
The muddy ground, he said, absorbed most of the impact of the hard landing.
“The outcome would have been a little different if we had solid clay-based soil out there,” he said.
Flynn credits the pilot with landing the plane safely and also applauds the quick response by members of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Fire Department and Niagara Emergency Medical Services who arrived at the Niagara Stone Road facility in a matter of minutes.
“I have to give kudos to the fire department and EMS for their quick response. You have a very short time to muster when you get a distress call but everybody was able to jump into action. All agencies were on the ground waiting for the plane as it came down.”
Annette DeYoung, who lives adjacent to the airport, was just sitting down to supper with her family when she noticed emergency vehicles heading to the airfield.
“A couple of vehicles went by, then another four came so we knew something was going on at the airport,” she said.
“We went outside and we could see the plane coming in and it was going way too fast.”
The flight with three on board originated in Kingston. None of the occupants were injured.
“If you have an incident of this magnitude, this is the outcome you are hoping for,” Flynn said.
He said staff and emergency response agencies such as the fire department conduct regular training exercises at the airport in order to be prepared in the event of an emergency.
An excavator and a crane were brought in Sunday to remove the plane from the muddy field.
Airport staff and officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are investigating the incident.
Officials with the TSB could not be reached for comment Monday.