NAKUSP, B.C. – One person is dead and another has been injured after a float plane crashed into the Upper Arrow Lake in front of Nakusp this morning.
Nakusp resident Ray Lythgoe was taking a stroll along the Nakusp waterfront shortly after 8 a.m. He heard a plane engine sputter and die, and looked up to see the descending plane.
"I heard the motor go dead," Lythgoe said, "then a big splash." Conditions were sunny and calm at the time.
Lythgoe says he ran to the nearest phone and called 911. He was one of many who witnessed the crash and called it in.
Arrow Lakes Search and Rescue and the Nakusp Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched, speeding on small boats towards the downed plane, which was floating about 500 to 600 metres offshore from the Nakusp Marina.
Shortly afterward, rescuers on a small boat returned to the marina carrying the pilot of the plane. The man sat upright, bundled in a blanket. He was treated and transported to the nearby Arrow Lakes Hospital by ambulance.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Annie Linteau now confirms there were two people on the plane. The passenger is deceased.
Recovery operations are ongoing, and RCMP and search & rescue divers are scheduled to attend the scene shortly.
The crashed plane has been lashed to a barge to prevent it from sinking, and it is currently being moved back towards the marina.
Linteau said there is no indication as to what caused the crash, but she confirmed the plane was attempting a landing when things went wrong.
It was a clear, sunny morning and the lake was glassy.
RCMP are not releasing the names of those involved until family members have been notified.
UPDATE: 2:30 p.m.
An RCMP diver arrived on scene at about 11:15 a.m. to survey the scene. A search & rescue dive team is en route to Nakusp from Nelson.
Also, the pilot appeared to be in relatively good condition despite the crash. He was able to walk to the ambulance and was alert.
UPDATE: Aug. 24, 4:30 p.m.
The pilot has now been identified as a 79-year-old Nelson resident who has 40 years of flying experience and regularly lands on mountain lakes. He had departed from Nelson that morning and was on his way to a remote lake near the B.C.-Alberta border when the incident happened.
The Arrow Lakes News spoke to the pilot after he returned to the shore to monitor the recovery effort. He didn't want to use his name because next of kin of his deceased passenger hadn't yet been notified. The pilot suffered only very minor scratches.
He said that the crash was due to a perception issue created when landing on extremely smooth water. With the sun reflecting off the mirror-like surface, it can be very hard to perceive your altitude.
"I knew the problem with glassy water," he said. "You can't see how far you are from the water."
In mountain lakes, he usually lands closer to the shore, using the shoreline as his guide. Today, the glassy water fooled him. He was out further than he thought when the plane hit the surface of the lake.
"It bounced and next time it hit, it flipped over," he said, "and that was it."
He was flying with an as-yet unidentified adult male friend for a day of fishing and relaxation on the lake when his partner told him he didn't have a fishing license.
"You gotta have a fishing license I told him." They made the decision to land at Nakusp to pick one up.
That's when the fishing trip turned tragic.
Authorities are continuing recovery efforts. The plane hasn't yet been removed from the lake.
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