Seven Dead when Float Plane Crashes

A Grumman Goose G21A float plane crashed on Thormanby Island, British Columbia, early on Nov. 16 killing seven men. Authorities were at the site the next day looking for the seven bodies. There was one survivor who had stumbled, badly burned and disoriented, down the side of mountain to find help. Transportation Safety Board (TSB) officials were on scene to investigate why the Pacific Coastal Airlines amphibious plane en route from Vancouver to Powell River crashed into a mountain on Thormanby Island and burst into flames. Meanwhile, Spencer Smith, a spokesman for Pacific Coastal Airlines said all of its sea planes were grounded until they had time to debrief all of staff. Smith said the pilot was extremely experienced and while the weather was low visibility it wasn't considered unsafe to fly. In August, another company Grumman Goose G21A, disappeared 10 minutes after takeoff on a routine flight within BC. The charred wreckage was found hours later in dense brush on a hillside north of Port Alice. Five people died in that crash and two survived,