Two people dead after plane crashes into fields in Vernon
By Nelson Daily Staff
For the second time in a week there’s been a plane crash in the B.C. Interior.
RCMP report that shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, a small twin engine aircraft took off south bound from the Vernon Airport it crashed in the Marshall Field’s sports complex adjacent to the runway shortly after takeoff.
It’s been reported the plane clipped two trees after takeoff before slamming into the field.
The aircraft burst into flames when it made contact with the ground.
No one on the ground was hurt as a result. The Marshall Fields were not very active at the time of the accident.
At this time officials are able to confirm the pilot of the aircraft, from Kelowna, is a 59-year-old, and his 55-years-old passenger from Port Moody died at the scene.
The aircraft caught fire and burned on impact; the wreckage has now been moved from the site and is being held for further investigation.
The BC Coroners Service has now taken over this file.
The RCMP will continue to assist them by interviewing witnesses.
Last Saturday (June 30) 77-year-old Montague (Monty) Edward Exton of Wiliams Lake failed to return from a routine flight that evening.
Search and Rescue personnel located the aircraft at a crash site on the bank of the Fraser River and confirmed Exton deceased at the scene.
In May, three people died, including pilot Colin Moyes, of West Vancouver, after a single-engine de Havilland Beaver crashed near on the Connector Highway 97C west of Kelowna.
The plane was en route back to Pitt Meadows when something went terribly wrong.
