One person is dead and two others injured after a plane crashed Friday evening in Saskatoon. It happened at 6:31 p.m. just north of the intersection of Wanuskewin Road just north of 51st Street and across the street from the Extra Foods parking lot.
Saskatoon Fire and Protection Services were first called at 6:20 p.m. for a standby situation at John G. Diefenbaker International Airport. The twin engine plane, used by Furgo for geophysical survey, was inbound with one engine out and three people on board.
The pilot attempted to land on the northbound lane of Wanuskewin Road and hit the top of the sound barrier.
“A turbo-prop aircraft that declared an emergency was making its way back in towards the airport at which point he was unable to make the runway and came down,” said Assistant Fire Chief Dan Paulsen.
Crews were on the scene less than three minutes after the crash.
Witnesses say the pilot looked like he was trying to land on the road but hit the sound barrier and the wall exploded.
“I looked up and I saw the pilot’s face and they just looked terrified because they were right up close to us,” said eye-witness Jaden Ernst.”
Paulsen said there were indications there may have been 1,000 pounds of fuel on board but there was no fire.
47-year-old Iaroslav Gorohovski of Embrum, Ont., was declared dead at the scene. The other two people on the plane were taken to hospital. Their condition is unknown, however one witness said one of the injured was walking around in a daze.
Transport Canada officials in Winnipeg are now on the scene in Saskatoon to carry out their investigation. Paulsen says the area around the crash scene will be cordoned off until the investigation is complete.
This is not the first time a plane has crashed near the same intersection. In 1994, a Piper Cherokee crashed into a pick-up truck stopped at a red light. Miraculously, there were no injuries.
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