UPDATED: Pilot in plane crash identified
By Contributor
Three passengers are dead, including pilot Colin Moyes, of West Vancouver, after a single-engine de Havilland Beaver crashed in the Okanagan Sunday evening.
Moyes was described by friends as an experienced pilot in his early 50s.
The plane was en route back to Pitt Meadows when something went terribly wrong.
The crash occured close to the Connector Highway 97C and was seen by passing motorists.
The Transportation Safety Board and B.C. Coroners office have taken over the investigation.
The bodies of the people on board were recovered Monday afternoon.
Three people feared dead in floatplane crash in mountains near Brenda Mines
Three passengers are feared dead after a single-engine de Havilland Beaver crashed in the Okanagan Sunday evening.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria confirmed that a plane crashed Sunday evening near Brenda Mines Road turnoff and Highway 97C.
The plane was on its way to Pitt Meadows from Kelowna, departing from Okanagan Lake, when it crashed just off Highway 97C and burst into flames, said the Transportation Safety Board.
CBC is confirming one person is dead.
“There was a post-crash fire,” said Chris Krepski from the TSB.
There has been no official confirmation of the status of the pilot and passengers from RCMP.
Police at the scene told a reporter nobody has been found, and nobody has been taken to hospital.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said the search is still on for survivors.
The centre had earlier said there were five people onboard the plane, but later revised the number to three.
The plane was carrying five people on the flight from Pitt Meadows to Kelowna. Two people may have been dropped off before the crash occurred.
Smoke and flame was visible from the highway.
Police said two witnesses saw the plane heading toward Peachland when it went down, possibly meaning the pilot may have detected a problem and had turned around.
Two Transportation Safety Board investigators will also be dispatched to the crash site Monday morning.
B.C. Ambulance, Kelowna Fire Department and Kelowna RCMP attended the scene.
In addition, two search and rescue aircraft — a Cormorant helicopter and a Buffalo airplane — were dispatched to the crash scene from CFB Comox.
Floatplane crashes near Peachland
Two Vancouver papers are reporting a small float plane has crashed in the Okanagan near Peachland.
An official of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria told The Province the plane went down in the vicinity of Brenda Mines Road and Highway 97 around 6:45 p.m. Sunday.
Early reports said there may have been as many as five people in the unknown aircraft.
Emergency crews are on the scene.
—With files from Canadian Press
