Investigators sent to site of deadly B.C. float plane crash
Seair resumes flights after Friday accident kills four and injures six
PORT ALBERNI, B.C.— The Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of investigators to the site of a deadly float plane crash north of Vancouver Island as the seaplane company, Seair, resumed flights Saturday.
Four people died in the seaplane crash on a small island about 100 kilometres north of Port Hardy, B.C., Friday.
It’s the latest in several deadly and high-profile incidents involving float planes on the Pacific coast this year. The Cessna 208 Caravan, owned by Seair, crashed Friday just after 11 a.m. on Adden-broke Island, with nine passengers on board. Four people are dead, two people are in critical condition and three are in serious but stable condition.
On Saturday, Chris Krepski, spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board, confirmed the board had sent three investigators to the site of the crash. They are scheduled to arrive at the crash site Sunday morning, he told Star Vancouver.
“We’re going to go and examine and document the wreckage and identify components from the aircraft that will go for further analysis from our laboratory in Ottawa. We’ll survey the area of the accident where we found the aircraft,” he said. “It’s about gathering as much information form the site in the field as we can.”
Investigators will also obtain maintenance records for the aircraft and consider other information, like pilot experience as well as radar and weather data, he said. Seair resumed a reduced scheduled service as of Saturday morning and is working with regulators and authorities, the company relayed in a written statement. The company is “undertaking a comprehensive mechanical and safety check on every one of our aircrafts to ensure they meet the highest safety standards as set by Transport Canada,” it said. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible tragedy.”
The passengers on the flight had boarded the charter in Richmond, B.C., and were bound for a remote fishing lodge on Calvert Island, according to Krepski.