Air crash in B.C. kills 7; 1 survives

A remarkable story of survival is emerging from a plane crash that killed seven people Sunday off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast.

The sole survivor scrambled out of the wreckage just before it burst into flames and, enduring burns to his body, hiked for several hours down a hillside to the waterfront, according to reports. There, wrapped in a yellow sheet, he was able to flag down a coast-guard boat.

The chartered plane, a Grumman Goose flown by Pacific Coastal Airlines, crashed around 10:30 a.m. on remote South Thormanby Island, 35 miles northwest of Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia, said Wayne Bamford, a Canadian coast-guard officer. It had been taking a construction crew from Vancouver International Airport to Powell River, B.C.

It was the second deadly crash for Pacific Coastal since August, when another Grumman Goose went down on Vancouver Island, killing five people. There were two survivors. Pacific Coastal has now decided to temporarily suspend its floatplane operation.

The plane that crashed Sunday was chartered to take construction workers to Plutonic Power's hydroelectric-power plant being built in the area. The main contractor for the project is Peter Kiewit Sons, which is based in Omaha, Neb., and has offices throughout North America, including Seattle.

A Plutonic spokeswoman said her understanding is that all of the victims were Canadian. Families of the victims were being contacted Sunday night.

The rescue crew saw the survivor wave to them, said crew spokesman Drew McKee. The man looked like he was enduring terrible pain.

"His face was burned, his chest was burned, his hands were burned and he had some gashes on his body," McKee said Sunday night.

"He didn't have to fight his way out of the plane, because it was in pieces," McKee said. "He got out, and pretty close to after he got out, the plane went up with a whoomph."

The survivor was "in remarkable shape," given the disaster, said Bamford, the coast-guard officer. He was lucky to make it to the beach to be rescued before fog set in.

The man was taken to a small community hospital at Sechelt and later transferred to Vancouver General Hospital.

There had been no communication from the pilot to indicate anything was amiss, said Spencer Smith, a Pacific Coastal spokesman. The amphibious World War II-era plane was perhaps 60 years old, he said, but had been overhauled last year.

According to some reports, conditions for flying were marginal Sunday morning, with thick fog in places.

Plutonic CEO Donald McInnes said 297 people are working at the plant, and crews are rotated in and out three times a day on Grumman Goose planes. He hadn't had concerns about the planes in the past.

Because Pacific Coastal Goose planes have been grounded, McInnes said, workers would be transported for now with boats, helicopters or other types of aircraft.

Information from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press

is included in this report.