By John Cairns
Staff Reporter
Two people have been confirmed dead in a plane crash near North Battleford Thursday morning.
The incident happened at Cameron McIntosh Airport around 10:20 Thursday morning.
An official from the Transportation Safety Board says the plane involved was a Piper PA-14 float plane that was bound for Whitehorse.
They confirmed the plane was destroyed in a post-impact fire following takeoff from a nearby body of water close to the airport.
According to the RCMP, their members from North Battleford Municipal Detachment were called out to assist and confirmed that it was a float plane that crashed a short distance from the airport.
RCMP reported the plane left the waterway, was in the air a short time and then crashed to the ground and burst into flames.
In addition to RCMP, WPD Ambulance and North Battleford Fire were also on the scene.
According to a news release from WPD Ambulance, they responded with three ambulance to the scene at around 10:21 this morning.
They found on arrival a small aircraft fully engulfed in flames. The two occupants of the plane were pronounced dead on the scene.
RCMP say both occupants of the plane, a pilot and a passenger, have been identified and that police are currently notifying their families of the accident.
Roads to the airport were blocked off by police and motorists were asked to stay away from the airport and away from the nearby dog park.
The cause of the crash are not immediately known. The Transportation Safety Board is currently in charge of the investigation into the incident. The RCMP will be assisting the Transportation Safety Board in that investigation.
RCMP Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky met with media at the airport around 3pm at which time a few more details were learned about the crash.
The float plane impacted on the grass just in front of the north end of the main runway at the airport. The body of water that the plane took off from is located a little further to the northwest, just north of the main terminal. It was about 600 yards further east of that waterway where the plane ended up on the ground, said Grabinsky.
A blue tarp covered the plane at the impact site. Not far away, RCMP members were already conducting the investigation and taking pictures. On scene, said Grabinsky, were traffic reconstructionists trying to get as much information as they could, as well as the forensic ident section.
Sgt. Grabinsky said the tarp was being used on the plane to protect the integrity of the investigation, mainly to protect the plane from the blowy and rainy conditions. Grabinsky confirmed it had been lightly raining at the time of the crash but it was not raining heavily.
He adds it will be up to Transportation Safety Board to determine how long the plane will stay at that location. The Transportation Safety Board was expected to be on the scene to conduct their investigation by Friday.
With investigators conducting their investigation so close to the runway, Grabinsky told reporters the airport itself had been closed to all air traffic as of Thursday.
"We do not want to risk any further endangerment. The runway is in direct line with the location of the crash. We would like to ensure the safety of all, and therefore the airport is not accepting planes at this time," said Grabinsky.
The airport will be reopened "as soon as possible," he added. The expectation is that once Transportation Safety Board has completed its investigation and there are no longer persons standing in the vicinity of the runway, the airport will be back open for business.
Whether an autopsy will take place is not confirmed as of yet.
