A1

JEFF DUCHARME
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

SAINT JOHN - The Transportation Safety Board will comb through the wreckage of a plane crash that claimed the lives of two men and critically injured two others Tuesday morning before an official investigation is launched.

Enlarge Photo

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

The body of one of the two victims that died in a plane crash on a mountain near Notre-Dame-Auxiliatrice-de-Buckland, Que., is carried from a snowmobile sleigh to the coroner's truck Tuesday. The aircraft took off from a small airport in Arnprior, Ont., and stopped in Quebec City to refuel before continuing to Saint John. It crashed in bad weather about 65 kilometres southeast of the provincial capital just after taking off around 5 a.m.

The single-engine plane was en route to Saint John when it smashed into the side of a mountain near Quebec City early Tuesday morning.

It's still unclear if the Saint John airport was a destination or just a stop-over for the four occupants.

The plane disappeared from radar about 5 a.m. just after taking off from Quebec City where it had stopped to refuel before continuing on to Saint John.

Authorities did not release the names of the victims, but friends and relatives confirmed that Jessie Barrie of Pakenham, Ont., was piloting the plane and was one of the two men killed in the crash.

The two survivors, a male and female, were taken to a Quebec City hospital and were listed in stable condition late Tuesday.

The injured male suffered a collapsed lung, broken leg as well as back and neck injuries, while the woman had head and neck injuries, a rescuer said.

Safety board spokesman, John Cottreau, said investigators are on the ground. A more in-depth investigation won't be launched unless the problem that struck the ill-fated flight is something investigators haven't encountered before, he said.

"We wouldn't re-invent the wheel and that's the type of determination they're involved in right now," Cottreau said.

The female survivor was able to call 911 and give the plane's location to police in Smith Falls, Ont., who then relayed the information to search and rescue officials.

The single-engine, four-seat Piper aircraft went down in a heavily-wooded area near Notre-Dame-Auxiliatrice-de-Buckland, Que., approximately 65 kilometres southeast of Quebec City.

Officials from the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario said low cloud cover initially hindered search and rescue efforts. A coast guard helicopter was on the scene not long after the crash, but it had to turn back because of low cloud cover.

Lt. Annie Moran of 8 Wing Trenton said the terrain made for a daring and difficult rescue. Search and rescue technicians jumped from a C-130 Hercules just after 9 a.m. and then a Griffon helicopter airlifted the rescuers to the site of the crash.

"It was very difficult because it was full of hills and woods," Moran said.

The plane took off from an Arnprior, Ont., airport en route to Saint John on Tuesday morning. Arnprior Airport manager Dan Lynch said he couldn't confirm the identities of the victims, but said the plane was registered to a Pakenham, Ont., man named William Barrie. Lynch said it was usually his son Jessie who piloted the aircraft.

- with files from CP