3 plane crash survivors 'walk off like nothing had happened' near Sechelt

Witnesses describe plane's emergency landing The engine of a small plane suddenly failed, and its pilot had to make an emergency landing off the Sunshine Coast.

A plane crashed in the water off B.C.'s Sunshine Coast Tuesday, but all three people on board escaped without serious injuries.

BC Emergency Health Services said it had received a call from the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre at 12:48 p.m., adding that paramedic ground crews were dispatched to the Sechelt area and three patients were transported to hospital with minor injuries.

Witness Ian Bolden said he was out paddling in his canoe when he noticed the plane circling over the water.

"They typically circle if there are whales out there. But then the plane came quite low and turned into the wind basically and hit the water with a pretty big splash," he said.

The Transportation Safety Board said the privately owned beaver float plane experienced an engine failure on its way to Pender Harbour from YVR, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing three nautical miles from Sechelt.

"It appeared to me that the pilot was trying to land the plane as safely as possible. It was fairly obvious that the plane didn’t have any power," Bolden said.

Owen Kydd saw the group of first responders at the bay and learned from social media about the downed float plane.

"Everyone was worried about what was going to happen. We didn't know if a stretcher was going to be coming off. At that point, we didn't know if anyone had passed away," he told CTV News.

But there was a collective sigh of relief when onlookers saw the pilot and two passengers coming off the Coast Guard hovercraft.

"That was part of the shock, watching them walk off like nothing had happened… a part from an ice pack on one of their arms, it didn't seem like there were any injuries at all," Kydd explained.

He said the crowd erupted in elation and started to clap when they saw the three survivors in good spirits, adding the two passengers were making jokes with one another and the pilot was taking photos of the hovercraft.

The plane was "severely damaged" and sank in the water, according to the TSB.

The agency said it will be doing a follow-up but will not be deploying a crew to investigate.

In addition to the Coast Guard, a Royal Canadian Navy vessel, a Transport Canada aircraft and a fire boat from Vancouver also responded.