One dead, one missing following float plane crash

One person is dead, one remains missing and a third has been rescued and taken to hospital after a small plane crashed on Tyaughton Lake, 100 kilometres west of Lillooet.

The Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says it was notified at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday of a float plane in difficulty near Tyaughton Lake. The plane subsequently was found crashed and partly sunken.

The RCMP received reports indicating that a number of boaters were trying to rescue the plane’s occupants. Maritime Forces Pacific said local volunteer firefighters were also on scene and assisting. A Cormorant helicopter and a Buffalo aircraft from Canadian Forces Base Comox were sent to the crash site.

Shannon Miller of the B.C. Ambulance Service said an air ambulance and a ground ambulance were dispatched from Gold Bridge.

The air ambulance took the injured person to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops. RCMP Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau said the survivor had serious injuries but they were not believed to life threatening. An RCMP dive team was on its way to join the search Wednesday evening.

Linteau says she could not release information about the identities of the plane occupants as their families had yet to be notified of the crash, nor say where the plane was flying to or from.

“Our focus is currently on advising the families of those involved,” said Linteau in a statement.

The B.C. Coroners Service and the Transportation Safety Board are involved in the investigation.