03-05-2025
‘A very close call': Toronto doctor rescued, safe after small plane he was flying lands in water at Tommy Thompson Park
A Toronto doctor was rescued from Lake Ontario Friday afternoon after the small plane he was flying landed in the water near Tommy Thompson Park.
A witness described seeing an explosion with smoke and flames coming from the aircraft before it went down.
The 49-year-old pilot took off from the city's Billy Bishop airport and was on his way to Pembroke, Ont. when the plane's engine lost power, Toronto police Duty Insp. Lhawang Jongdong told reporters. Crews at the airport lost contact with the privately-owned Cirrus plane shortly after 2 p.m.
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Toronto boaters rescue pilot as plane sinks in Lake Ontario off Tommy Thompson Park (Rob Faulkner Video / May 2, 2025)
The man, the only person on board, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and refused medical attention, opting to go home instead.
'We're very fortunate to see this person come to land safely,' Jongdong said, calling the incident 'a very close call.'
Toronto police's Marine Unit was sent to the scene after crews at Billy Bishop Airport informed police they had lost contact with a privately-owned, Cirrus plane shortly after 2 p.m.
After the plane lost power, the pilot tried to turn back and return to the airport but wasn't able to make it, Jongdong said.
He instead landed on the water, with a parachute deployed and attached to the plane's tail, near the park also known as the Leslie Street Spit, a five-kilometre peninsula that is globally recognized as a key area for biodiversity.
The 49-year-old pilot, a Toronto doctor, was rescued by boaters already in the area near Leslie Street Spit on Friday afternoon, Toronto police said.
Doug Paulson photos
Doug Paulson, a recreational photographer and former pilot, had been enjoying the weather near Ashbridges Bay when he saw the plane coming in.
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'I thought he probably coming into the runway so I was going to take a picture of him, and then there was an explosion,' Paulson said.
He saw 'lots of smoke' and small flames coming from the plane before its parachute deployed.
As a dual Canadian-U.S. citizen, Paulson said he's often flown between Toronto and Nashville, Tenn. He's familiar with the plane model involved in the water landing and said it's 'quite uncommon' for it or any other aircraft that size to have a parachute attached to the tail.
Paulson said the parachute helped slow the plane to a reasonable speed by time it hit the water. Though he couldn't feel any wind on the shore, there was enough to catch the parachute and fill it.
'It kept pulling the plane back up so the plane did not sink, which is very interesting. Normally with an aircraft that size, if you open a hatch, it's probably going to sink,' he said.
In the moment, Paulson felt like he had stumbled on a film set and was watching a Hollywood stunt in real-time.
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'It was almost like it was staged,' he said. 'It was too perfect.'
Rob Faulkner was on a boat near the mouth of Ashbridges Bay when he heard a loud bang and saw the plane go down.
'We turned the sailboat around, came back, got within 20 feet of the of the plane as it was starting to sink and we rescued the individual,' said Faulkner, a Toronto real estate agent.
Faulkner said the pilot was wearing a life-jacket and had to jump off the plane into the cold water so they could help him come aboard.
The pilot told Faulkner his motor had exploded and his back hurt from the impact but otherwise he felt fine.
Faulkner estimated the whole ordeal — from when the plane first hit the water to when the pilot was moved to a police boat — took about 20 minutes.
A Toronto police boat circles above the crashed plane that sunk nine to 12 metres beneath the water's surface and about 200 to 300 metres from shore on Friday afternoon.
R.J. Johnston/ Toronto Star
According to flight data, the plane climbed to an altitude of around 4,400 feet and a speed of 175 miles per hour before beginning to drop.
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The same plane had previously made two round-trip flights from Toronto to Kapuskasing, Ont. last month.
The plane is submerged at an estimated nine to 12 metres beneath the water's surface and approximately 200 to 300 metres from shore, where police said it will remain overnight before retrieval efforts begin.
Police will be investigating the crash, Jongdong said.
