One killed as plane crashes into apartment

VANCOUVER, B.C. – A small plane crashed into the ninth floor of a suburban Vancouver apartment building Friday, killing the pilot and injuring two people in the building.

“We’ve got one person who was the occupant of the plane who is deceased due to the injuries,” said Cpl. Nycki Basra of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the suburb of Richmond.

The two residents of the ninth-floor apartment were taken to a hospital. One of them likely sustained “significant and serious injuries,” said Christy Hillen, a spokeswoman for the B.C. Ambulance Service.

Basra said some other people were being treated at the scene, but no details were immediately available.

Fire crews evacuated the 15-story building, and people reported smelling aviation fuel. There was no fire, and police said later the threat had been neutralized.

Only one unit sustained structural damage, but no other residents were being allowed back into the building right away, Basra said Friday night.

Police threw a perimeter around the crash scene near one of Richmond’s busiest intersections at the height of the Friday afternoon rush hour.

A shaken Crystal Mason said she was driving with her husband and young son when she saw the plane flying erratically.

“I knew it was in trouble. It was going way too fast,” said Mason, 28.

“I knew it was going to crash. I really did,” she said. “My thing was, ‘My God we’re in downtown Richmond, where’s it crashing?’ “

The twin-engine Piper Seneca had taken off from Vancouver International Airport, headed for the community of Pitt Meadows, just east of the city, airport spokeswoman Kate Dongani confirmed.

It apparently ran into trouble soon after takeoff and punched a hole into the north side of the Rosario Gardens apartment block just east of the airport.

Witnesses who called radio and TV stations to describe what they saw said the plane sounded odd as it tilted downward.

Television footage of the building showed all the windows of one suite smashed in. No part of the airplane was visible.

Rick Eng, whose apartment building is kitty-corner from the crash site, said residents have been concerned for some time about low-flying small aircraft going to and from nearby Vancouver International.

“There’s a couple of times there’s a plane flying right above our buildings,” he told the Canadian Press. “They’re a little bit too low. I’m kind of wondering, is it necessary?”