The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre received a call around 1:30 p.m. after an amateur-built two-seater plane crashed on a beach on the remote island in Clayoquot Sound, said Lt. (Navy) Tony Wright. The aircraft was landing on the sandy beach when its nose hit the ground, causing the plane to flip upside down, said Jason Kobi, the Transportation Safety Board’s regional manager for Pacific air investigations.
The aircraft had an emergency locator beacon that activated after the crash, Kobi said.
A coast guard vessel from Tofino and a Cormorant helicopter from Comox responded to the scene.
The helicopter landed on the beach and the search and rescue technicians stabilized the pilot and passenger, who had undetermined injuries. The helicopter landed at Victoria International Airport, where B.C. Ambulance paramedics took the two people to hospital.
The Transportation Safety Board is gathering information to determine what caused the crash, but will not send investigators to the scene, Kobi said. Investigators will interview the pilot and passenger as well as people flying in nearby planes who may have witnessed the crash.
