Investigators head to site of B.C. plane crash that killed 7

Transportation Safety Board representatives were expected to arrive at the scene of a deadly airplane crash off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast on Monday to begin an investigation.

Seven people died Sunday when a Pacific Coastal Airlines flight crashed in the southern section of Thormanby Island. One person survived. There were reports of heavy fog in the area, though no cause has been suggested yet.

The amphibious Grumman Goose aircraft departed from the Vancouver International Airport around 10 a.m. PT to deliver personnel and supplies to an energy project in Toba Valley.

The seaplane crashed into a wooded area on Thormanby Island about 20 minutes later, breaking apart and bursting into flames during the crash, officials said.

The lone survivor, a 35-year-old man, suffered burns and gashes to his face, hands and chest, but was able to walk down a creek bed until he reached a beach where he was spotted by the Canadian Coast Guard and taken to hospital, said the RCMP.

Drew McKee, a spokesman for the coast guard rescue crew, said the man was waving to them and looked like he was in terrible pain.

It was Pacific Coastal's second fatal crash in less than four months. In August, another Grumman Goose belonging to the airline crashed on Vancouver Island, killing five people. The investigation into that crash is ongoing.

Plane exploded after crash

The survivor told the rescue crew that he was sleeping when the plane crashed but was able to scramble out to the wreckage just before it exploded, McKee said.

"He didn't have to fight his way out of the plane, because it was in pieces," McKee said. "He got out, and pretty close to after he got out, the plane went up with a whoomph."

RCMP officials said they have spoken to the survivor, who is in a Vancouver hospital in stable condition, but they are not yet releasing the identity of the survivor or the victims of the crash.

The passengers on board the chartered aircraft were employees with construction company Peter Kiewit Sons who were on their way to the Toba Valley to work on a run of river power project for Plutonic Power.

Plutonic Power CEO Donald McInnes calls the crash his worst nightmare.

"It's a tragic day for Peter Kiewit Sons and our company, and Pacific Coastal Airlines. And at this point we are working at getting in touch with all of the families involved, and I really wish that we weren't going through this," said McInnes.

Pilot had extensive coastal experience

The airline said there was no distress signal sent before the plane went down.

Spencer Smith, vice-president of the family-run Pacific Coastal Airlines, said the pilot, who had only been with the company for about eight months, was among the dead.

Smith described the 54-year-old pilot as a veteran with about 12,000 flying hours, about half which was logged on similar aircraft on the coast of B.C. and around the world.

Smith said the company has voluntarily suspended aircraft operations until it has had an opportunity to debrief with all of its employees, though not because of any mechanical concern.

"It's more along the concern that we have with regards to the staff and crew involved. We need to debrief with all the employees and ensure from a mental capacity they are in a position to want to and be able to fly in a safe fashion. We aren't going to push that by any stretch," said Smith.

Pacific Coastal has a fleet of 26 aircraft, nine of which are seaplanes. Smith said the plane was serviced as part of a regular maintenance program, and all the components would have been upgraded or new.

Heavy fog reported in area

It was very foggy at the time of the crash, said John Crane, who was hiking at nearby Smuggler Cove Marine Park when the plane went down.

Crane said he heard a blast. When he returned home and heard about the plane crash, he thought about taking his boat across to the island but couldn't because the fog was so thick.

"You couldn't see Thormanby from Smuggler's Cove," he said. "Usually you can. It's really close."

Search and recovery efforts were a challenge on Sunday because of the foggy weather, said RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen.

"They weren't able to get very close to that scene because of weather and darkness setting in," Thiessen said. "We haven't been able to utilize any resources to get to that scene."

It took rescue crews a couple hours of looking through the area in the heavy fog before they were even able to spot the burning wreckage, he said.

Earlier crash investigation separate

Bill Yearwood, a TSB spokesman, said the safety board will not be examining the two crashes together and will only look for similarities when the separate investigations are complete.

"Our investigation of this accident starts from scratch," Yearwood said. "There's no bias as to what happened in the previous occurrence."

The investigation into the previous crash in August did not find any mechanical malfunction, said Yearwood.

Yearwood said he expected to arrive at the site of the crash, which is about 90 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, with two other investigators on Monday.

Representatives from the coroner's office were also unable to get to the scene on Sunday and are expected to be on site on Monday to begin recovering the bodies.

The Grumman Goose aircraft were first flown in 1937. The ones operated by Pacific Coastal carry nine passengers and a pilot.

The amphibious aircraft are commonly known as flying boats because they use their fuselage as a hull like a boat when taking off and landing, rather than floating on pontoons like float planes.