Canoe

Monday, November 6, 2000

Plane crashes in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG (CP) -- A light plane with eight people aboard crashed Monday night in a wooded area within the city limits of west-central Winnipeg.

There were no fatalities, said Staff Sgt. Jack Johnson of the Winnipeg police. One man was taken to hospital, while the others mostly sustained scrapes and bruises.

RCMP first found out the plane had crashed when the pilot phoned them from a cellular phone.

It took emergency officials nearly an hour to find the wreckage because the area, known as Assiniboine Forest, is densely wooded. That also made it hard for paramedics to get in and take out a 52-year-old man who suffered chest pains.

"Once we found the plane in the middle of the bush -- which was difficult because it's very, very dark in there and the plane didn't catch fire when it crashed -- all of the passengers except one were able to walk out," said Johnson.

A bus was brought to the scene and the remaining passengers were taken there for medical attention.

Officials with the Winnipeg Airport Authority said the Navajo plane was Keystone Air flight 207. It was en route from Flin Flon, Man., to Winnipeg when it went down just before 6 p.m. CST.

The pilot radioed the control tower telling them he was having mechanical problems prior to the crash.

The cause of the crash wasn't known, although it was raining lightly at the time.

The Assiniboine Forest is a wooded area within the city, but there are no homes within the park.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 06, 2000