Several dead after plane crashes on Gabriola Island
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2019 23:13:35 +0000
GABRIOLA ISLAND — RCMP say there were no survivors after a plane crashed on the north end of Gabriola Island with several people on board Tuesday evening.
The crash site is an approximately two-acre parcel of heavily wooded land on Decourcy Drive, on the northern tip of the island, which is used by the public to access the waterfront. The parkland is between two houses, and according to a witness the plane crashed less than 30 metres from the road.
The homes in the neighbourhood are on large treed lots, with some occupied full time by locals and others owned by seasonal visitors.
The pilot was identified by CBC News as Alex Bahlsen.
Dec. 11, 2019 – Alex Bahlsen of Mill Bay, BC has been identified as the pilot of a plane that crashed on Gabriola yesterday.
Police have a few hundred metres of the road blocked off, and have put up yellow tape to prevent people from entering via the rocky shore. Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive around 12:30 p.m.
“It was terrifying,” said Bette Lou Hagen, who lives about 100 metres from where the plane went down at 6 p.m., partly on Decourcy Drive on the island’s northern peninsular. “I heard the roaring of an engine, much louder than a car engine, then a loud crash. Then a minute later an explosion.”
Hagen was sitting in her living room reading when the plane went down. She said it was ablaze by the time she went outside. She could not see much because the area has a lot of trees, and then she called the police.
The impact was unlike anything Rick Mayes had ever felt.
“My place shook so bad and it was so loud that I thought it was an earthquake,” he said. “I’m serious, this house, I thought it was going over it was that strong.”
The scene of a small plane crash on Gabriola Island, B.C., is shown on Wednesday, Dec.11, 2019. A plane that one witness describes as crashing in a “huge explosion” that left multiple people dead in British Columbia has been identified as a twin-engine propeller aircraft.
Mayes had been on the telephone to a friend who had called to wish him a happy 70th birthday when the crash happened.
“By the time I got out and walked to the gate, it was dead quiet. Never heard a thing.”
The B.C. Coroners Service was notified of “multiple fatalities and is investigating to determine who died.
At 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, coroner spokesman Andy Watson said they would likely know the number of fatalities later today. He said investigators are still assessing the scene and gathering information, and anticipated a joint statement would be released later Wednesday.
Merv Unger, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Nanaimo Station 27, said three vessels were standing by to help but that because the crash was on land they did not need to go. He said he understands that three people were on board, but that has not been confirmed by the RCMP.
RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Manseau said Mounties are assisting with the investigation, but they still did not know how many people died. Once they more information they will begin notifying family.
The crash will be investigated in partnership with the Transportation Safety Board. Sophie Wistaff of the Transportation Safety Board said three investigators would be on site Wednesday to begin gathering information to determine what happened; a TSB crew arrived just after noon Wednesday to begin their probe.
On Wednesday morning, the TSB confirmed the plane was a piston twin-engined aircraft.
RCMP officers and members from the coroner’s office walk into the dense woods near the scene of a small plane crash on Gabriola Island, B.C., Wednesday, Dec.11, 2019.
Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department Chief Will Sprogis was on his way to the north fire hall for the department’s weekly practice night, when he received the page about the fire shortly after 6 p.m. He made it to the crash site within six minutes.
When he arrived, he saw three fires burning in some dense bush a short distance from the road, and there were a number of broken trees. Sprogis did a scan of the area to make sure it was safe for firefighters before the first engine arrived.
Sprogis quickly found the tail section and gave the RCMP the information on the tail so they could identify the plane, and saw other debris including engine parts and propellors, scattered in an area almost the size of a tennis court. He also looked for survivors, but found none.
He said based on the destruction path, the plane had come in from the northwest.
Firefighters used foam to put the fires out, which took about 10 minutes, Sprogis said. In the end, 32 of the department’s 38 firefighters responded.
A British Columbia Emergency Health Services spokesperson said paramedics were called to the area of Ricardo Road and Decourcy Drive at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Ricardo Road links the main island with the peninsula.
The service said there were two ambulances on the island and about five others were transported there via a ferry. The Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department was also involved as the plane reportedly caught fire after breaking up.
An online flight tracker shows a six-person, twin-engined Piper Aerostar heading north from the U.S. disappeared off the tracker at around 6 p.m., just north of Gabriola Island.
This screen shot from flightradar24.com shows the speed and altitude of the plane.
Dave Holme said he saw the plane hurtle toward the ground and ran to look for survivors.
“I saw the plane spiralling toward the ground. The engines were going … but they didn’t sound normal,” Holme recalled Wednesday. “About five houses down from us, I saw it nosedive into the ground, and then the explosion was just immense … all the houses completely shook.”
Holme said he ran into the bushes at the crash site and yelled to see if anyone was alive and able to respond.
“I was probably within, I’d have to say, five feet of the fuselage … and just fire all around me, the ground was literally on fire.
“I saw the rear end of the plane sticking out of the ground … I couldn’t see any wings. Part of the motor was on one part of the property and the other part of the motor was over on the other side of the property. It hit with such force, it just disintegrated the plane.”
An investigator takes photos near the scene of a small plane crash on Gabriola Island, B.C., Wednesday, Dec.11, 2019.
Residents took to Facebook to describe the chaos and warn other residents.
Paolo Gast wrote “Wow 6:02 witnessed a plane do a low manoeuvre, then straight up, then drop and light show into ocean … sunset side of twin beach. 6:08 hearing emergency sirens … Same manoeuvre I saw of Red Bull plane do at Vancouver fireworks.”
Kristina Wray Baerg posted at 6:04 p.m., “Heard what sounded like an airplane close to the house, then a thump and the house shook! I don’t see or hear anything outside … Taylor Bay Area … Anyone else?”
Stephanie Reisler responded, “Obviously a tragedy for victims. Also traumatizing for residents of the peninsula — some of whom are elderly and are having war flashbacks and war-related PTSD. Maybe check on these neighbours once things have cleared and settled.”
Gabriola resident Blair Mann lives near the crash site and said the plane went down in a small wooded park.
“Miraculously, it missed all the homes, the houses,” said a shaken and distraught Mann. “I don’t know how he did it but he missed all the houses.”
He said his first alert to the crash came as he was watching the evening news and explosions shook his entire house.
“There were multiple explosions,” said Mann.
Gabriola Island where plane crashed Tuesday evening.
RCMP officers put up police tape near the scene of a small plane crash on Gabriola Island, B.C., Wednesday, Dec.11, 2019.
-with files from Tiffany Crawford, The Canadian Press and The Times Colonist.