Four people killed in plane, glider collision near Pemberton
Posted June 29, 2013 2:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PEMBERTON (NEWS1130) – Four people and a dog are dead following a plane crash south of Pemberton.
Comox Search and Rescue says a Cessna 150 and a glider collided mid-air near the Nairn Falls Provincial Park shortly after 1 p.m.
Police say a man and a woman were in the small plane which had taken off from 108 Mile House enroute to Nanaimo. The self-powered glider was owned by someone from Pemberton. However, no details about the occupants of that aircraft have been released.
Second Lt Erin Edwards says the two aircraft fell close by. “One aircraft collided into another and severed the wing off the glider, which then impacted the ground. The other aircraft went across the river there.”
Lon was golfing at Big Sky when he heard a loud bang.
“As we looked up to see what the bang was, I didn’t see the glider anymore at that point, I guess it was pretty much out of the sky. You could see the wings were up in the sky, they were weightless, just floating, descending very slowly,” he describes.
One little boy at the campground saw it all happen. ” saw the two planes crashing and going everywhere and I saw a couple of spinning things in the air.”
Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy says the slopes around Mt Currie where the crash took place is popular with those in the gliding community. “It is a great area for soaring and thermal lifting and is a good area for that kind of aerial activity.”
He says the terrain in the area is very rough, making it difficult for crews to recover all the pieces of the two aircraft.
Sgt. Rob Knapton with Whistler RCMP says pieces of debris came to within 20 feet of campers but no one on the ground was hurt.
Bill Yearwood with the National Transportation Safety Board says experts will be focusing on GPS systems to try to figure out what happened.
He points out neither aircraft needs to clear their flight path before take-off.
“These aircraft are not likely to have traffic-alerting and avoidance systems in them. The glider and the Cessna would be relying on visual contact to avoid other aircraft in the area.”
