The local aviation community is mourning the loss of two of its own today after a small aircraft owned by a flying school crashed near the Springbank Airport and killed two men this morning.
“This is a small community and it’s very difficult for everybody here,” said Larry Stock, Springbank Airport’s General Manager.
Emergency Medical Services spokesman Stuart Brideaux told media on scene that reports came in shortly before 10 a.m. about a light aircraft that had sustained a crash just south of Highway 1 and just west of Calaway Park.
Several callers also reported a “fair amount of smoke in the area,” he said.
Area resident Anita Robinson was jogging with her miniature black Labrador Bailey at about that same time when she said the dog unexpectedly stopped and alerted her to the possibility that something was wrong.
“I was running my dog and all of a sudden, my dog stopped … and I looked up and all I saw was this big black smoke,” Robinson recalled. “Then I saw the fire under it.”
Brideaux said emergency personnel arrived a short time later to discover the scope of the situation.
“On EMS and fire arrival, we were eventually able to determine there were two adults deceased,” he said.
RCMP said a flying school located at the Springbank Airport owns the plane, and the names of the two men will not be released pending notification of next of kin.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has begun its investigation into the fatal crash.
