Lake Simcoe Regional Airport was closed for roughly nine hours in the aftermath of yesterday’s fiery plane crash as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) conducted an investigation into the mishap.
Shortly after noon on Aug. 13, a light commercial aircraft crashed at the Oro-Medonte airport with its landing gear up, before erupting in flames and prompting response from local police, ambulance, and fire services.
Smoke and flames were billowing out of the plane by the time Oro-Medonte Fire and Emergency Services arrived, township officials said, with firefighters applying foam to extinguish the flames.
None of the plane’s three occupants were injured during the training flight gone awry, which township officials say sparked a $3-4 million total dollar loss.
Airport manager, Mike Drumm, said TSB officials were on site for several hours following the crash, with the airport fully opened again by 9 p.m. after the investigation concluded.
“TSB released the aircraft from their investigation; we coordinated with the aircraft owner and commenced with removing the disabled aircraft from the runway,” Drumm told OrilliaMatters on Wednesday.
While helicopter operations were not impacted at the airport, Drumm said numerous airplane flights had to be diverted in the hours following the crash, as the plane rested on the tarmac during the investigation.
“During that nine-hour period, no fixed-wing aircraft could use the runway,” he said. “We did have to divert various commercial flights, and obviously local flight training and recreational users were impacted as well.”
Well that was not ideal, it could have been much worse.
“But I think, in reflection, the winner of the story is the fact that the three occupants were completely uninjured.”
TSB officials did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication of this story.
However, in a brief news release, the agency stated: "The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is deploying a team of investigators following an aircraft accident involving a Beech 100 King Air at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport, Ontario. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence."
