At least one person is dead after a small plane crashed Saturday at 5:30 p.m. NT near the airport in Deer Lake, N.L., a town of about 5,000 people in western Newfoundland.
RCMP confirmed the crash to a CBC reporter on the scene, where first responders were also attending.
Andrew Naysmith, owner and accountable executive of B.C.-based Kisik Geospatial and Aerial Survey, the company that owns the plane, indicated in a statement that the crash was fatal. However, it wasn’t immediately clear how many people were aboard.
“We are devastated and heartbroken by this loss,” Naysmith said in the statement. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the families of the deceased and their loved ones.”
The aircraft was a Piper Navajo twin-engine plane. Global Air says this type can hold up to eight passengers.
Naysmith said no names will be immediately released as that information will be provided by the proper authorities.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating. On Saturday night, TSB spokesperson Liam MacDonald said its investigators are on their way to the site.
Kisik’s owner said the company will provide support “in any and every way possible.”
Crashes in Deer Lake rare
Deer Lake Mike Goosney said the crash happened just outside the town.
“It’s not every day — it’s never that you hear of a plane crash,” Goosney told CBC. “Lots of prayers and thoughts going out to everybody that nobody’s been injured, but I’m not aware at this moment.”
It’s the first plane crash in Deer Lake in 25 years. The last one involved a cargo plane that departed the Deer Lake Regional Airport on Oct. 15, 1999, and went down in Ontario.
Deer Lake’s website says the town is at the crossroads of the Trans-Canada and the Great Northern Peninsula, and a short drive from White Bay. In the heart of Humber Valley.
In a post on Facebook not long after the crash, town Coun. Brett Langdon said, “Reports of a small plane crash near the entrance to Deer Lake Regional Airport. The TCH [Trans-Canada Highway] east of Deer Lake is currently shut down in both directions.
First responders were asking people to stay away from the area. Langdon told CBC that Deer Lake emergency crews are trained to respond to incidents involving aircraft. “So [it’s] certainly not something that happens every day, but something that we are prepared for in terms of an emergency readiness plan.”
Airport still operating
Deer Lake Regional Airport CEO Tammy Priddle told CBC the Piper Navajo twin-engine aircraft took off from the airport at 5:27 p.m.
Priddle said the airport received reports of a crash shortly after.
Fire Rescue, RCMP and N.L. Health Service responded, she said.
Priddle said the airport’s emergency command centre was “stood up,” meaning it was activated and ready to respond.
The airport is still operating with flights arriving and departing, she said, adding passengers and family can check with the airport website or the airline for information.
Priddle said she doesn’t have information right now regarding possible casualties as the RCMP have control of the scene.
‘Just big black smoke’
CBC spoke to Dean Major, who said he saw the plane crash while standing in his contracting yard with other workers on the highway near the airport.
While the plane was falling, Major said, smoke appeared to be coming from the right-hand side of the plane and he saw the plane turn, so the cockpit was in view.
“And we heard a pop and then just big black smoke [was] coming from just all the trees,” said Major.
He said he drove up the road and found the plane had crashed in a ditch on the Trans-Canada near the Airport Road intersection.
“It was a ball of fire.”
Major said he and some other workers went to the crash site and saw the aircraft in flames, but he could not see anyone inside it.
He called emergency responders, who arrived on scene quickly.
“There was nothing left — just a skeleton of a plane.”
