More than six hours elapsed between the time a small plane crashed while attempting to land at a southern Ontario airport, killing its two occupants, and the time the crash was noticed.
People who live near the Brantford Municipal Airport say they heard a loud noise similar to a bang around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
When airport employees showed up for work at 8 a.m., they noticed the crashed Piper Arrow aircraft and called police.
The two people in the plane – 81-year-old pilot Ron Chamberlain and his 76-year-old wife Mildred – were killed in the crash.
They lived in Brampton, Ont., where neighbours say Ron Chamberlain was an avid flyer who owned three planes.
“He just wanted everybody to know how much he loved it,” Steve Yuricek told CTV Toronto.
“Since the day I’ve known him, that’s all he’s talked about – his three planes and how he wanted his granddaughter to be a pilot just like him.”
Because the airport is not staffed overnight, its runway lights are activated by pilots as they land. The lights at the Brantford airport are believed to have been on at the time of the crash.
The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
With reports from CTV Kitchener’s Heather Senoran and CTV Toronto’s Austin Delaney
