Crash of twin-engine plane at Thunder Bay airport leaves 1 dead
A twin-engine airplane crashed Monday evening at Thunder Bay's airport in northwestern Ontario, leaving one person dead.
In a written statement, airport president and chief executive officer Ed Schmidtke confirmed a twin-engine airplane crashed just after 9 p.m. ET and there was one fatality.
The name of the individual hasn't been released.
Schmidtke said the airport's operations specialists, along with Thunder Bay police, firefighters and paramedics, responded to the incident.
The scene is being held for a Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigation, he added.
A TSB spokesperson said it was aware of an incident and confirmed it's investigating.
The plane was registered to MAG Aerospace in Dryden. The company provides a range of specialized aerial services, including fire management, airborne imagery and air charters, according to its website.
A statement will likely be issued, according to a staff member, but the timing is unclear.
Number of flights affected
A number of flights into the airport from Toronto and Sioux Lookout were either cancelled or diverted as a result of the airport closure on Monday night.
A Facebook post from Wasaya Airways said it had cancelled one flight from Sioux Lookout on Monday night, resulting in 37 passengers stranded in the northern town. At least two Air Canada flights from Toronto that were scheduled to land in Thunder Bay were rerouted after takeoff.
Just before nightfall, social media were filled with images showing a line of flames streaked across the runway with heavy smoke rising into the sky.
