No serious injuries after small plane crash-lands next to Montreal-area highway
Provincial police say pilot lost control of plane shortly after takeoff, may have attempted landing on highway
A pilot escaped with minor injuries after crashing a small plane into a ditch next to a busy highway near Montreal Wednesday afternoon.
Quebec provincial police said they were called around 1:40 p.m. to the crash site along Highway 20 in Boucherville, on Montreal's South Shore. It's a largely industrial sector, though the crash was not far from a residential area.
Sûreté du Québec (SQ) spokesperson Sgt. Ève Brochu-Joubert said the 33-year-old pilot may have lost control of the plane shortly after takeoff and tried to land on the highway, but he ended up in the ditch instead.
He was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police said the trip to the hospital was a preventive measure.
Brochu-Joubert said the pilot was alone in the small plane, and no cars or pedestrians were hit.
The damaged plane, which was found upside down in the grassy ditch, was loaded onto a flatbed trailer to be transported away.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will take over the investigation.
It's not clear where the plane took off from, but the Saint-Hubert Airport is about five kilometres south, and the CSB3 Saint-Mathieu De Beloeil Airport is about 15 kilometres east of the crash site.
with files from The Canadian Press