Float plane crashes into woods, burns
A float plane carrying three passengers crashed in the Okanagan on Sunday, bursting into flames. The plane was on its way to Pitt Meadows from Kelowna, departing from Okanagan Lake, when it crashed off Highway 97C near Brenda Mines, said the Transportation Safety Board.
A spokesman said there was a report of fatalities, but wasn’t sure how many survived.
“There was a post-crash fire,” said Chris Krepski of the TSB. By press time there was still no official confirmation of the status of the pilot and passengers.
“Emergency crews are still on-site searching for the people on-board the plane,” said Annie Djiotsa of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria. RCMP at the scene told a reporter that nobody has been found, and nobody has been transported to hospital.
Horrified motorists, who saw the singleengine de Havilland Beaver go down in a heavily wooded area about 20 kilometres west of Peachland around 6:45 p.m., reported the crash to RCMP. Smoke and flame was visible from the highway.
Police said two witnesses saw the plane heading toward Peachland when it went down, possibly meaning the pilot may have detected a problem and had turned around.
The coroner is on the way to the scene. Two TSB investigators will also be dispatched to the crash site this morning.