OTTAWA, Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Three people were killed when a small airplane crashed on Gabriola Island, Canada Tuesday night, CTV reported Wednesday.
The twin-engine Piper Aerostar plane, took off from Bishop Airport northeast of Fresno, U.S. state of California, and crashed in a fiery wreck while heading to the Nanaimo airport in Canada’s British Columbia province.
The plane was piloted by Alex Bahlsen, the registered owner of a 1982 Piper Aerostar that matches the description on radar and carries the Canadian markings, C-FQYW.
The B.C. Coroners Service said it was notified of multiple fatalities. Specialists with the service, along with members of the TSB and RCMP, are gathering information from the scene to determine the identities of those who died.
Confirmation of the number of fatalities will happen after family members of the deceased have been notified, and that could take several days, according to a news release from the service.
There were no casualties reported on the ground.
Gabriola Island, which has a population of some 4,000, is a 20-minute ferry ride east of Nanaimo. — NNN-AGENCIES
