Ottawa Citizen

Three die, one injured when small plane crashes in southern Labrador

CHARLOTTETOWN, Nfld. (CP) - Police have released the names of the people who were killed Tuesday when a small plane crashed after the pilot apparently attempted to land on a gravel highway in southern Labrador.

The pilot, Clarence Chaulk of Aspen Cove, Nfld., and two of his passengers were killed, the RCMP said in a statement released Wednesday. The passengers were identified as Edward Myrick, 49, of Gander, Nfld., and Eugene Steele, 59, of Musgrave Harbour, Nfld.

A third passenger survived the crash. Jacob Efford of Carmenville, Nfld., was taken by military helicopter to a hospital in St. Anthony, Nfld., which is 150 kilometres to the south.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax received a transmission from an aircraft's emergency locator beacon around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday.

Searchers found the wreckage by the side of a new section of the Trans-Labrador Highway, about four kilometres west of Charlottetown.

The aircraft was headed for Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld., a 300-kilometre trip to the west.

Witnesses said the plane had just taken off when it appeared to have trouble gaining altitude.

"It seemed like it had no power, and it didn't seem like it was climbing," a witness told CBC Radio.

"It looks like he may have tried to land on the road," said another. "It went over the ditch and hit a pile of rock right beside the ditch. The front was all beat up from the sudden impact."

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 07, 2001