Pilot injured in float plane crash near Kingston
A pilot suffered minor injuries when his float plane flipped while taking off east of Kingston, Ont., Wednesday morning, ending up submerged in the St. Lawrence River.
Emergency crews were called to the site of the crash in the water near Downie Island around 11:45 a.m.
OPP said the pilot was the plane's only occupant. He was treated by paramedics for minor injuries.
Leeds County OPP, the Leeds and the Thousand Island Fire Service, and police officers and firefighters from Gananoque, Ont., all responded to the crash.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has also been notified, police said.
Takeoff began normally
Mike Ellis was watching the plane from shore and saw it start the attempted takeoff.
He said everything looked normal, but then "all of a sudden we see the right wing dip way down."
Ellis said he then heard a loud bang, and the plane was suddenly upside down in the water. The pilot quickly scrambled from the cabin and was rescued by someone on a Jetski, Ellis said.
Downie Island is located in the St. Lawrence River, approximately 60 kilometres east of Kingston.
