Two people are dead after a plane travelling from the village of Masset in Haida Gwaii to Tofino with four people aboard crashed Tuesday afternoon.
The crash of the privately registered Quest Kodiak 100 amphibious float-equipped aircraft happened about 60 nautical miles northwest of Tofino in Tahsis Inlet, near Mozino Point on Vancouver Island.
The Nootka Sound RCMP is working with the Transportation Safety Board and the B.C. Coroners Service to determine the cause.
RCMP were notified of the crash about 2 p.m. after the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria received an emergency beacon around 1:40 p.m.
Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Chris Krepski said there was a fire after the impact.
Rescue crews responded and two people were hoisted onto an air force helicopter Tuesday.
They were flown to Comox, where B.C. Emergency Health Services had ambulances waiting to transport them to hospital there.
No details about their injuries were provided.
The registered owner of the 2009 plane, which is based at Cooking Lake Airport east of Edmonton, is listed as Cameron B. Robinson of Sherwood Park, Alta.
The response included two vessels from Canadian Coast Guard Lifeboat Station Tahsis, two CH-149 Cormorant helicopters, an RCMP boat and a CC-130 Hercules aircraft that was in the area on a training exercise.
The Transportation Safety Board deployed a team of investigators to the scene Wednesday morning.
Masset Mayor Sheri Disney said all she had been briefed on as of Wednesday morning was that the private flight left the Village of Masset Municipal Airport about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday.
“Beyond that we don’t have anything else,” she said. “We also haven’t been contacted by Transport Canada yet. I think there’s lots that we’re still waiting for.”
Airport manager Gary Suha said he would not comment until he is able to speak with the Transportation Safety Board.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the Nootka Sound RCMP at 250-283-2227.
