Two people who were flown to hospital with serious injuries after a fatal plane crash near Tofino are in stable condition, the Vancouver Island Health Authority said Saturday.
Six people — the pilot and five hikers — were on the float plane when it crashed about 11 a.m. Friday near Hesquiat Lake. Two people were killed and two were unharmed, the Transportation Safety Board said.
No names have been released.
Bodies of the deceased were recovered Saturday afternoon, despite poor weather conditions that delayed investigators early in the day. Rather than flying to the site, they were forced to travel by land.
“It’s about 60 kilometres from Tofino, most of which is on logging roads and then there’s a bit of a hike in. We utilized some ATVs to get the crews in this morning,” RCMP spokesman Darren Lagan said Saturday.
TSB officials will visit the site as early as today to begin investigations into the cause of the crash, said manager of air investigations Bill Yearwood. Police said there is no indication of foul play.
The plane’s operator, Air Nootka, said Saturday it was dealing with “an unfortunate incident involving one of its De Havilland Beaver float planes” in a statement posted on the company’s website.
An employee reached by phone said Air Nootka would not be commenting further at this time. “All Air Nootka aircraft are professionally maintained to the highest standards by an independent company,” the statement reads.
“Safety is Air Nootka’s number one priority and the company is compliant with all federal and provincial regulations.”
Rescuers were alerted to the crash about 11 a.m. Friday when an emergency beacon activated minutes after the Air Nootka plane departed from Hesquiat Lake. Police said the plane was heading to Gold River, about 40 kilometres to the northeast.
The search team included RCMP, search-and-rescue and military, as well as dozens of locals, including members of Hesquiaht First Nation. The plane’s wreckage was found about 3 p.m., just north of the lake.
Dianne Ignace, had just finished serving a breakfast of eggs and hash browns for 20 campers on Friday morning when she heard three float planes fly overhead, on their way to pick up groups of hikers from Hesquiat Lake.
When she later heard two float planes returning, Ignace said she didn’t think anything of it until three panic-filled words — ‘Mayday. Downed craft’ — rang out over the marine radio in her living room.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, I just met all of those people.’ ”
Ignace, who runs a gift shop in Hesquiaht Village, believes she saw the plane’s passengers on Wednesday. “You just get to know somebody, somebody new, and then next thing you know, they’re in a crash,” Ignace said. “It’s really sad.”
The hikers bought fudge, water, cedar bark roses and refilled their water, items Ignace recorded in a ledger.
— With files from CP and The Province
