July 27, 2021 - 2:39 PM
TOFINO, B.C. - The Transportation Safety Board says it's assessing information related to a float plane that flipped over while taking off from Tofino, B.C., on Monday.
Board spokesperson Alexandre Fournier says the float-equipped Cessna A185F "nosed over in shallow water" during take off from the harbour.
Fournier says in an email that the plane from Atleo River Air Services Ltd. had a pilot and four passengers aboard and they were all able to get out and onto a sandbar.
He says they reported minor injuries.
Misty Lawson, a dispatcher with Atleo River Air Services, says the plane hit an "exceptionally large" wake from a boat on take off and became airborne prematurely.
She says the plane then hit a bad angle and tipped over in the shallows of the sandbar.
She says the pilot is highly experienced and the flight had been headed to a community up the coast from Tofino.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2021.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2021