At least one person is dead after a small plane crashed on Saturday at 5:30 pm NT near the Deer Lake airport, NL, a city of approximately 5,000 people in western Newfoundland.
RCMP confirmed the accident with a CBC reporter on the scene, where the first to respond also attended.
Andrew Naysmith, owner and executive responsible for Kisik Geoespatial and Aerial Survey, based in BC, the company that owns the plane, indicated in a statement that the accident was fatal. However, it was not clear immediately how many people were on board.
“We are devastated and disconsolate by this loss,” Naysmith said in the statement. “Our thoughts and the deepest sympathies are with the families of the deceased and their loved ones.”
The plane was a Piper Navajo Twin-Engine plane. Global Air says that this guy can contain up to eight passengers.
Naysmith said that names will not be published immediately, since the appropriate authorities will provide that information.
The Canada Transport Security Board (TSB) is investigating. On Saturday night, TSB spokesman Liam Macdonald said his researchers are going to the site.
Kisik’s owner said the company will provide support “in any way possible.”
Crashes in Deer Lake Rare
Deer Lake Mike Goosney said the accident occurred on the outskirts of the city.
“It’s not every day, it’s never heard from a plane crash,” Goosney told CBC. “Many prayers and thoughts are everyone that no one has been injured, but I am not aware at this time.”
It is the first plane crash in Deer Lake in 25 years. The last one involved a cargo plane that departed from the Regional Airport of Deer Lake on October 15, 1999, and fell in Ontario.
The Deer Lake website says that the city is located at the crossroads of Trans-channel and the large northern peninsula, already a short distance from White Bay. In the heart of the Humber Valley.
In a Facebook publication shortly after the accident, Town Coun. Brett Langdon said: “Reports of a small plane crash near the entrance to the regional airport of Deer Lake. The TCH [Trans-Canada Highway] To the east of Deer Lake, it currently closes in both directions.
The first to respond were asking people to stay away from the area. Langdon told CBC that Emer Lake emergency teams are trained to respond to incidents involving aircraft. “So [it’s] It is certainly not something that happens every day, but something for which we are prepared in terms of an emergency preparation plan. ”
Airport still operating
The CEO of the Regional Airport of Deer Lake, Tammy Priddle, told CBC that the Twin-Engine Pipejo Navajo plane took off from the airport at 5:27 pm
Priddle said the airport received reports from an accident shortly after.
Fire rescue, RCMP and the NL health service responded, he said.
Priddle said that the airport’s emergency command center was “standing”, which means it was activated and ready to respond.
The airport is still operating with flights that arrive and leave, he said, adding that passengers and family can consult with the airport website or the airline to obtain information.
Priddle said he has no information at this time about possible casualties, since the RCMP has control of the scene.
‘Large black smoke’
CBC spoke with Dean Major, who said he saw the clash of the plane while standing in his hiring courtyard with other workers on the road near the airport.
While the plane fell, Major said, the smoke seemed to come from the right side of the plane and saw that the plane revolved, so the cabin was in sight.
“And we listen to a pop and then just a great black smoke [was] Coming from all trees, “Major said.
He said he drove along the road and discovered that the plane had crashed in a trench in the Transanada near the intersection of the airport road.
“It was a fireball.”
Major said he and other workers went to the scene of the accident and saw the plane on fire, but could not see anyone inside him.
He called emergency responders, who came to the scene quickly.
“There was nothing left, just a skeleton of an airplane.”
