Injuries ‘minor' in Squamish plane crash. Collision with bird may have caused pilot to make emergency landing at Squamish Terminals: RCMP

Photo by John Buchanan/Special to The Chief

Emergency workers survey the site of an airplane crash at Squamish Terminals on Friday (Sept. 2).

September 2, 2011

Ben Lypka

David Burke

Squamish Chief

A collision with a bird may have been responsible for the crash landing of a small airplane at Squamish Terminals on Friday (Sept. 2), a police spokesperson said this week.

The pilot and a passenger that were inside the plane when it went down suffered “minor” injuries in the crash, which saw the single-engine craft flip over and come to rest on its backside, RCMP Sgt. Wayne Pride wrote in an email to The Chief on Monday (Sept. 5).

Transport Canada is investigating the cause of the crash, Pride said. The incident prompted a response from local police, fire and ambulance crews. The plane came to rest 20 to 30 metres from a Squamish Terminals warehouse.

“It appears a bird strike to the engine may have been the cause,” Pride wrote. “The pilot attempted an emergency landing down at the Terminal, the plane's wheel hitting soft soil and the plane flipped. Luckily injuries were minor.”

Southbound access to the Squamish Terminals was closed off for part of the afternoon. The plane was removed at around 3 p.m. and access to the terminals was restored at around 3:30 p.m.

http://www.squamishchief.com