A Surrey RCMP officer drives a police vehicle in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. Surrey Mounties say a person has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a plane caught fire in a field in the Metro Vancouver community of Surrey. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Republished June 02, 2023 - 5:55 PM
Original Publication Date June 02, 2023 - 4:06 PM
SURREY, B.C. - The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it is deploying a team of investigators to Surrey, B.C., after a small plane crashed in a field in the Metro Vancouver community.
Firefighters say the pilot was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Surrey Deputy Fire Chief John Lehmann says crews received a call at 1 p.m. Friday about an ultralight aircraft crashing in a field east of 152 Street.
He says rescuers found no one except the badly injured pilot aboard the plane.
Lehmann says the crash ignited a fire in the field that grew quickly because of windy conditions and dry fuel at the site.
He says the blaze spread to about 1.5 hectares before 28 firefighters extinguished it, preventing it from reaching any structures.
Surrey RCMP say the condition of the injured pilot was unknown.
The Mounties say traffic on 152 Street between 72 and 68 avenues was shut down in both directions and motorists were asked to plan alternate routes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2023.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2023