Info on Vancouver Island Plane crash

[Ranjency Dixonator]

CBC is reporting seven people missing on Northern Vancouver Island??

Does anyone know what aircraft this is??? Hoping everyone is OK....

[Go Guns]

Plane reported missing off northern Vancouver Island
Last Updated: Sunday, August 3, 2008 | 2:47 PM ET Comments5Recommend7
CBC News

A search and rescue mission was underway off northern Vancouver Island on Sunday morning after a small plane with seven people aboard was reported missing.

The flight left Port Hardy, B.C., about 7 a.m. and was expected to touch down no more than an hour later at an outer coastal island.

There has been no contact with the plane or its passengers, said Capt. John Edwards of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria.

[matrix]

Sunday, August 03, 2008


PORT HARDY, B.C. -- A search is underway for a Pacific Coast Airlines seaplane with seven people on board missing off the northeastern coast of Vancouver Island.

The plane, a Grumman Goose amphibious, left Port Hardy, 500 kilometres north of Victoria, shortly after 7 a.m. local time on a 20-minute flight to another Vancouver Island location.

"The company itself did some searching first thing this morning (Sunday) then reported the aircraft missing to the rescue coordination centre at about 10 a.m.," said Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash of the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

"Since that time a Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter from 19 Wing Comox, where the airforce search and rescue is located, launched and have been searching the area."

Pash said a call from a cell phone on the plane was received, but the plane has not been heard from since and there has been no signal from the plane's electronic locator transmitter.

"We are now trying to vector in on the location where the cellular came from and determine what's happened on the ground," he said.

The plane, with a pilot and six passengers on board, had two hours' worth of fuel.

The company reported it missing to the rescue centre in Victoria at 10 a.m. local time.

Victoria Times Colonist


© Canwest News Service 2008

[altiplano]

They made a call on a cel phone? Sounds like a positive sign.

Hoping for the best for all involved.

[Widow]

Rescuers search for missing B.C. plane
JUSTINE HUNTER

Globe and Mail Update

August 3, 2008 at 5:36 PM EDT

Duncan, B.C. — Search and rescue crews are looking for survivors from a commercial flight across Vancouver Island that crashed this morning with seven people aboard.

A survivor of the Pacific Coastal Airlines crash appears to have made contact with rescue crews through cellphone text messages, but communications have been challenging in the rugged terrain and details are still unclear, said Gerry Pash, a spokesman for the Victoria Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

The Grumman Goose left Port Hardy, B.C., on the east coast of Vancouver Island at 7 a.m. with six passengers and a pilot. It was due to arrive at Chamiss Bay on the west coast about 25 minutes later.

Lt.-Cmdr. Pash said the company conducted its own search before calling for a formal search at 10 a.m. Fixed-wing aircraft from the Comox air force base located the crash site about half-way across the island.

“The aircraft was fully consumed,” he said. “It burned.”

A spokesman for the airline did not confirm when rescue crews were called.

“We can confirm it did not make it to its final destination,” said Spencer Smith, vice-president for customer relations. “There has been cellphone communication with a passenger on board.” He would not say if the families of the passengers and the pilot have been contacted, saying the priority is on locating survivors.

More to come

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... gplane0803

Does not look good. My deepest, most sincere condolences to all involved.

[sky's the limit]

Hoping for the best, if at least one person is using a cell phone, there may be more. Fingers crossed.

stl

[Oleo 4]

My sympathy to all those involved and to PASCO crews and family! A good company with some great people, always sad to hear!

Take Care!

[JBI]

Globe and Mail is reporting 2 survivors, but 5 dead.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... ional/home

The Canadian Press

August 3, 2008 at 9:37 PM EDT

Search and rescue officials say five people have died in a plane crash near Port Hardy, on northern Vancouver Island.

Two men who survived the crash aboard the Grumman Goose were rescued by air search crews late Sunday afternoon.

Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash of the Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says one of the survivors was injured, the other was in good condition.

They were flown to the town of Comox, B.C., where they were met by a heli-ambulance, Pash says.

Rescuers search for missing B.C. plane

The plane left Port Hardy on route to Chamiss Bay Sunday morning just after 7 a.m. Sunday, and search crews began looking for the downed plane around 10 a.m.

One of the passengers was text messaging a friend about the whereabouts of the Grumman Goose amphibian plane.

The friend then relayed the information to rescue crews, but it took several hours for them to find the plane crash site.

My thoughts are with those involved and their loved ones.

[sky's the limit]

Sad news.

Condolences to all involved, and the folks at Pasco.

stl

[Thrustlover!!]

I've flown these barge loaders myself for the past 2 and a half years. Such great guys ... such a loss. My heart goes out to their families - and to everyone at Pasco today. Love, Kelly

[Go Guns]

My condolences to friends and family.

[Noob]

Very sad news. My deepest sympathies to all at Pasco and the families and friends of those lost, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[altiplano]

Bad bad news. Glad two hear that the two that made it look like they are going to be alright.

Condolences to families & friends and everyone at PASCO.

[jspitfire]

Sad news indeed. My condolences to the families and friends, and to all at Pasco.

[Topspin]

Another went down out of Pitt Meadows yesterday, however all survived.. Some good news for the day at least. The news said it was a skydiving plane.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article ... aIrmMhLxwg

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the province, two people were injured, one of them seriously, in another plane crash near Pitt Meadows Airport, east of Vancouver. The plane, made a wheels-up landing in a blueberry field. The other six people on board suffered only minor injuries.

[orbit]

Anyone know of who the pilot was?
They have a great crew there...
My sympathies to all.....

[SkyWolfe]

My condolences to all involved...

Sky and CP

[Panama Jack]

Condolences to the friends and families of the victims of yesterday's crash.

I am wondering whether this was the only Grumman Goose operated by PCA, or whether they have more than one?

[boeingboy]

PASCO is the worlds largest commercial operator of the Goose (at least according to my friends there, as I have no stats) They did have 6 (now 5). One operates out of YVR and the others out of Port Hardy.

[Bulawrench]

My condolences to all the Families, crew and friends.
It affects all of us in Aviation. Safe flying to all.

[Captain_Canuck]

Truly Tragic...

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those who lost their loved ones and with the great people of Pasco.

[golden hawk]

Plane crash survivor climbed hill to text friend
Updated Mon. Aug. 4 2008 2:27 PM ET

The Canadian Press

PORT HARDY, B.C. -- A man who survived a plane crash that killed five people when it went down near Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island on Sunday says there was a fire onboard the aircraft before it crashed.

Bob Pomponio was one of two people who survived the crash of the Grumman Goose amphibian plane operated by Pacific Coastal Airlines.

They were rescued hours after search teams received text messages one of the survivors sent to a friend with the whereabouts of the crash site.

Pomponio and the other survivor were flown to Comox, B.C., where they were to be met by a heli-ambulance.

Pomponio suffered some soft tissue damage.

Authorities did not release the names of the victims, saying they were notifying their next of kin.

It was Pomponio who was text messaging a friend about where the plane went down. The friend relayed the information to rescue crews, but it took several hours for them to find the site of the crash.

Pomponio said he had to climb a hillside to get a signal.

And, he said, he wasn't too thrilled with Telus for sending him two text messages while he was trying to get help.

Seaspan International released a statement confirming that four of its employees died in the plane crash.

"We offer our deepest sympathies to the families and will be working directly with them and the two Seaspan survivors to provide grief and trauma counselling," it read.

According to the company's website, Seaspan offers marine transportation and shipdocking services to the Port of Vancouver, Victoria and other ports in B.C.

The amphibious plane left Port Hardy en route to Chamiss Bay just after 7 a.m. Sunday. The airline said they did some initial searching and then reported the plane missing at around 10 a.m.

A Buffalo search plane and a Cormorant helicopter were used in the rescue mission.

Authorities said the plane went down on a hillside dense with foliage, making it difficult to locate the crash site.

In one text message to his friend, the survivor said he was on a mountain and could see the rescue aircraft but they were unable to find him.

Pash said the survivor's cellphone could be credited for bringing the rescue crews to the crash location.

"It was less efficient than having the plane's electronic transmission locator working but more efficient than not having any information," he said. "This is one of those searches that could have gone on for days had we not had the cellphone's stuff."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the province, two people were injured, one seriously, when a small plane made a wheels-up landing in a blueberry field near Pitt Meadows Airport, east of Vancouver. The other six people on board suffered only minor injuries.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... TopStories

[ontheslide]

The pilot was of the nicest guys you'd meet, my deepest sympathies, such a loss.

[200hr Wonder]

My sympathies to everyone involved. The PASCO team has always been great and I have sympathy for there loss and for the pax families.

[Flying Nutcracker]

Truly tragic! My condolenses and prayers go out to all involved.