Five taken to hospital in northwest Ont. float plane crash

Canadian Fly-In Fishing (Red Lake) Limited float plane crashed into northwestern Ontario creek upon takeoff. June 16, 2024 (Transportation Safety Board)

Canada's Transportation Safety Board is investigating after a float plane operated by a remote northern Ont. fly-in fishing outfitter crashed, sending five people to hospital.

Emergency crews were called to Pickerel Drive in Red Lake, Ont., shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday, Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release.

"Two individuals were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries," police said.

"All individuals have been transported to hospital by EMS (emergency medical services) to be treated for their injuries."

OPP Const. Autumn Eadie told CTV News in an email, the plane crashed into Balmer Creek shortly after takeoff.

The crash involves a remote fly-in fishing outfitter, Hugo Fontaine, a spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board, told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an email Monday morning.

"A De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by Canadian Fly-In Fishing (Red Lake) Limited collided with terrain during takeoff from Red Lake, Ont., Sunday morning," Fontaine said.

"We are deploying two investigators to gather data and assess the occurrence and they should arrive onsite at some point today (Monday). That's all the information we can share at this time."

CTV News reached out to the operator for comment and is awaiting a response.

The owner of another northern Ontario outfitter with a similar name, Canadian Fly-In Outposts in Emo, said he has been getting calls all morning about the crash, but said it wasn't his company or plane that was involved.

Air transportation 'accidents' were up 10 per cent in 2023 over the previous year with a total of 182, the Transportation Safety Board said in its annual report.

"Nineteen of these were fatal, resulting in 33 fatalities, which is down slightly from the 24 fatal accidents and 34 fatalities in 2022," the report said.

"Overall, the number of air transportation accidents has been decreasing in the last decade."