Two Victoria area men escaped unhurt after the single engine Diamond DA-40 they were in crashed into the Courtenay River today.
Pilot Ian Barnes says he came in for landing too fast and tried to take off again.
“Just came in a little too fast on the approach for the runway there and looks like I made the decision to pick up and go around a little too, a little bit too late and ended in the water,” Barnes told CHEK News.
The Courtenay Airpark is a small public aerodrome with an 1800 foot runway. Witnesses say he came in too fast and landed more than halfway down the runway.
“I just noticed the newer plane come in super fast and I made a mental note, like whoa, he’s coming in way faster than say 90-percent of the planes come in,” said Kevin Hodgson.
“And I just happened to look out and the next thing I knew it sounded like he revved, lifted and the next thing I saw was a spray of water,” added Keith McPerson.
The plane went off the runway, through a chainlink fence and some bushes before landing in the river, fortunately right side up.
“We were probably doing 60-70 knots and it happened and didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about it but hit the water, jumped out of the canopy turned the fuel off, turned all the electrics off like you’re supposed to and walked off the wing,” said Barnes.
A large crane was later used to lift the plane out of the river.
No word yet if the Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Sources:
http://www.cheknews.ca
http://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
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