Piper PA-28-151 Warrior, Excel Flight Training Inc., C-GDTS: Accident occurred September 05, 2011 west of Claresholm, Porcupine Hills, Alberta, Canada

CALGARY — A single-engine plane carrying three people crashed 30 kilometres west of Claresholm on Monday afternoon.

RCMP report the single-engine Piper Warrior hit the ground at 4:15 p.m. in the Porcupine Hills.

It was carrying two men and a woman and left from Lethbridge.

A 20-year-old man, a passenger on the plane, was taken to hospital by STARS air ambulance in serious condition.

“They were out for a tour of the area, a sightseeing tour, and that’s when the plane came down,” said Claresholm RCMP Sgt. Terry Wickett.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will investigate the cause of the crash.

Wickett said the pilot was awake and conscious and told police he was uncertain why the plane went down.

STARS was called at 7:07 p.m. Monday originally for a search and rescue operation, but the plane was found before STARS arrived and the passenger was taken to the Foothills Medical Centre.

The other two people were taken to hospital by ground ambulance and were alert and talking before they were brought in for medical care,