Airline grounded after plane skids off Abbotsford runway during snowstorm

Transport Canada has grounded the airline whose plane skidded off a runway in Abbotsford during last week’s snowstorm.

The small King Air twin-engine aircraft, operated by Island Express Air, was carrying 10 people when the incident happened on Friday.

Paramedics were called to the scene and transported eight patients to hospital in stable condition.

Transport Canada has now suspended the airline’s Operator Certificate “in the interest of public safety,” and because of the airline’s contraventions of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.

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WATCH: Heavy snowfall creates traffic chaos across Metro Vancouver suburbs.

1:34 Heavy snowfall creates traffic chaos across Metro Vancouver suburbs.

It remains unclear precisely how the airline contravened those regulations.

Transport Canada said Island Express Air will not be allowed to resume commercial air service “until it proves it can keep its operations consistently compliant with aviation safety regulations.”

The incident remains under investigation by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).

Environment Canada said the Abbotsford International Airport saw 25 centimetres of snowfall during Friday’s storm.