UPDATE: The Transportation Safety Board investigators will be making their way to the crash site today. Tofino’s weather is currently foggy and raining, which potentially could hamper the amount of the investigators are able to accomplish.
One of the four survivors of the deadly float plane crash in a remote area near Tofino on Vancouver Island on Saturday spoke exclusively to Global News about the terrifying plane crash.
Nanaimo resident John Young is lucky to be alive, recovering in Victoria General Hospital with a shattered sternum, broken ribs, broken clavicle and third-degree burns to his legs.
He is one of two survivors who are in hospital; the other, a female hiker who suffered serious burns to her legs and a broken upper arm.
Young was seated next to the pilot on the flight.
Two people died in the crash, including the pilot who had 25,000 hours of flying experience.
Young says the pilot died in the ensuing blaze after the crash.
Two other people on the plane managed to escape with minor injuries.
The Air Nootka plane had picked up the group of five hikers to take them 40 kilometres to Gold River.
Young says due to poor weather, the pilot altered his course south across Hesquiat Peninsula en route to Gold River.
“It was very foggy and drizzling, because of the low cloud ceiling, we didn’t head directly to gold river from Hesquiat Lake, we went south and across Hesquiat Peninsula,” says Young.
It was when the plane was over the peninsula that it started to go down.
“We started to go down, and the pilot said, ‘Mayday we are going down,’ I saw a tree looming and the wing must have hit the tree.”
“Then we hit the ground, I could hear people moaning, and the pilot was yelling ‘open the doors, open the doors!’”
“10 seconds after we hit the ground, there was a pouf of flame in front of me, I couldn’t get the door open beside me, so I could see that the pilot door swung open, so I started to crawl over there.”
“The person behind me reached for the alarm button the dash, and then his hand stopped moving. I figured he must have died.”
“I went to try to get out and my feet were trapped between the seat and the front. I pulled and pulled and couldn’t get them loose, then I stopped pulling and squirmed, and I got out of the plane.”
“I could hear one of the women on the other side screaming to help her, and I went around; one hand was out, there were flames around her, I grabbed and pulled her, and she couldn’t move. Then I got her out, but she was in pretty bad shape, her pants had melted on her.”
“The pilot was there and he had one hand reaching out, I pulled, and brought him a little bit out, but I couldn’t get him out any more. He died.”
“I met up with the other hiker and the two that weren’t hurt, got us all together and kept us warm, and the rescue helicopters found us.”
Young says they waited about four and half hours to be rescued. He says the two hikers who were not seriously injured constructed a lean-to for shelter.
“We heard a helicopter right away, so we knew that they knew there was an accident, but because the beacon wasn’t set up, they didn’t know where we were,” he says.
“We heard them doing their grid search, twice they got really close to us, but then they turned back. The third time, they hovered really close for a minute, and then they came closer and were above us.”
“Then they lowered their three paramedics down, got us out of there.”
Young says the fire started in the front of the plane. He says the two people who survived with only minor injuries were seated in the rear of the plane.
The identities of the two hikers who died have not yet been released, but Young says the group was made up of people from Courtenay and Salt Spring Island.
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