Small plane with 3 aboard crashes west of Ottawa airport

A small aircraft with three people aboard crashed down in Ottawa just west of the city’s airport on Thursday evening. 

It happened shortly before 6 p.m. in the area of Riverside Drive and Hunt Club Road. A photo shared by one resident showed a plane wedged in the trees. 

Emergency services responded at 5:55 p.m., according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service. One man and one woman were rescued from the plane and taken to the hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Marc Antoine Deschamps, a spokesperson for the paramedic service, said it took a significant effort by emergency services to rescue those two people from the plane. 

A third person remained onboard and their condition could not be confirmed yet, he added. 

Riverside Drive south of West Hunt Club Road to River Road will be closed while emergency services are on scene, police said on X.

The Transportation Safety Board Canada (TSB) said it has two investigators at the scene. The plane involved was a privately-registered Grumman AA-5A, the agency confirmed. 

The Ottawa Airport Fire Service also responded to the crash and operations at the airport remained normal, according to the Ottawa International Airport Authority. 

Pablo Coles lives on an offshoot of Riverside Drive where the plane went down in the bush. 

He saw the plane approach the area at a low altitude and called 911 as soon as he heard a bang, which he feared was the plane crashing into a neighbour’s house. 

Coles ran into the street and saw instead that the plane was “hung up in the trees and power lines.”

A lot of gasoline leaked from the scene, he said. The fire department said it was working to mitigate fuel spillage from the crash into the Rideau River. 

Coles also saw the man being escorted by emergency workers from the plane. 

“I am very sad for the people inside,” he said.