Pilot killed, 2 people injured in small plane crash near Ottawa airport

The pilot of a small plane that crashed into a wooded area west of the Ottawa International Airport early Thursday evening has died, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

The Grumman AA-5A aircraft with three people on board crash-landed just before 6 p.m. along Riverside Drive near Hunt Club Road. The plane was on forced approach to the airport at the time of the crash.

A man and a woman on board the plane were taken to hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries following the crash. Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson Marc-Antoine Deschamps confirmed Friday morning that the pilot of the aircraft was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) deployed a team of investigators following the crash.

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The TSB says the plane took off from the Gatineau airport, just north of Ottawa, about 20 minutes before the crash.

“At some point in the flight, the pilot had engine problems. The engine sputtered and failed. The right engine cowling of the aircraft came open and there was a substantial loss of engine oil that was sprayed over the windscreen,” TSB Regional Senior Investigator Jean-Pierre Regnier told reporters Friday morning.

The pilot informed the Ottawa airport about the emergency and was cleared to land, but the plane lost altitude and crashed into trees approximately 970 metres from the runway, Regnier said.

“At this point in time, that’s all we know. We’re in day one of this investigation. And that’s all I know so far.”

The wreckage of the plane was removed Friday for additional investigation.

“The TSB will continue its investigation looking at aircraft data, pilot information, weather, NAV Canada audio and radar tapes, etcetera,” said Regnier.

Ottawa Fire Services spokesperson Nick DeFazio said Thursday night that the plane had struck hydro wires as it went down and came to rest in a tree. It was approximately six metres (20 feet) in the air when crews arrived.

“The hydro wires that the plane landed in were live, so we do want to thank our partners from Hydro Ottawa. We could not do the extrication until they arrived on scene. They arrived quickly and shut down the power so our firefighters could get to work,” he said at a media conference in the evening.

DeFazio added that fuel was leaking from the plane after the crash, and the Ottawa Fire Services hazardous materials team worked to contain it with the help of firefighters from the airport.

“We have a line that is charged and active on the fuel spill that is coming from the plane. We applied that foam to the fuel,” he said. Crews were also dispatched to the Rideau River to set up booms to contain fuel that might have leaked into the water.

Two people rescued

DeFazio said firefighters used a bucket ladder and specialized tools to extricate two people from the plane, who were taken into the care of paramedics.

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Ottawa police closed Riverside Drive between Hunt Club and River roads for several hours for the investigation. The road reopened at around 9:30 p.m.

Tom Kazmirchuk told CTV News Ottawa he was driving down Hunt Club Road at around 5:45 p.m. when he crossed Riverside Drive and saw the plane going down.

“I saw this plane and it was very low, it was very fast and it was really evident to me that it wasn’t going to make it,” he said in a phone interview.

He says he did not see the actual crash, only the moments leading up to it.

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The Ottawa International Airport says operations were not affected by the crash.

TSB on scene

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada was also on the scene Thursday evening.

“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is deploying a team of investigators following an accident involving a privately registered Grumman AA-5A, that occurred earlier today while landing at the Ottawa International Airport, Ontario. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence,” the TSB said in a news release.

TSB spokesperson Nic Defalco said Thursday night the aircraft was on forced approach to the Ottawa airport and struck power lines.

“Investigators are on site. They’ll be interviewing witnesses and examining the wreckage to see what they can gather tonight,” he said.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Dylan Dyson