Small plane carrying 1 crashed east of St. John's, search ongoing for pilot
A plane crashed east of St. John's early Tuesday morning, according to the Transportation and Safety Board of Canada.
The plane, an Air Tractor AT-802, crashed approximately 130 nautical miles, or 240 kilometres, east of St. John's, the TSB said in an email to CBC News just after 2 p.m. NT.
The crash happened around 8:40 a.m. on Tuesday, the board said.
Speaking with CBC News, Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax said an emergency beacon was received about 50 minutes later. The plane had a solo male occupant.
His condition is unknown.
"One pontoon of the aircraft was spotted on the surface, as well as an orange life raft. There was also a little bit of debris, and the Cormorant helicopter did confirm that that life raft is empty," Hickey told CBC News.
Hickey originally told CBC News the plane had departed from the United States. In a further update just after 3 p.m., the TSB said the plane had departed from St. John's International Airport and was being ferried to Portugal.
The AT-802 is a single-engine propeller plane that Air Tractor bills as an agricultural craft, often used for spraying pesticides. It can also be adapted for firefighting purposes.
Schematics on the corporate website say the plane has a 60-foot wingspan.
Several air vehicles and vessels are now on the scene, Hickey said, including a Hercules aircraft, Cormorant helicopter, a Cougar Airlines helicopter, a PAL Airlines aircraft, a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and two fishing vessels already in the area.
Hickey said conditions for searching are poor and deteriorating.
"The surface vessels will remain on scene to continue the search, and we'll continue to maintain air cover in rotation throughout the night. So the search will carry on throughout the rest of the day and into the night," he said.
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