Brockville OPP confirmed that a small plane crashed somewhere in the Thousand Islands on Wednesday. Luckily, the pilot escaped unharmed.
OPP say the float plane went down 11:45 a.m. Wednesday morning near Downie Island. A male pilot was in a small single-passenger float plane when police say he lost control while taking off. OPP Const. Judy King says nearby boaters were able to help the pilot escape the plane.
“The pilot was helped out of the plane by fellow boaters that were in the area.” King said. “He was treated and released by EMS.”
Witnesses in the area say they saw a plane bounce off the surface of the water twice, then flipping over. Tom Drag and his family were visiting from New Jersey and were on a fishing trip just moments after it happened. Brady tells CKWS News, he and his family noticed something was wrong when they saw who they thought was a boater sitting on a floating object.
“We were headed out this morning to go do some casting for pike and what we thought was a catamaran sailboat capsized,” said Drag. “We saw the pilot or what we thought was the boater in the water.”
Leeds Grenville Paramedic Services, Thousand Island Fire Rescue and OPP were on hand to rescue the man who crashed. Shortly after it was apparent that he was uninjured and left on his own.