5 people in stable condition after vintage plane crash in Abbotsford

Pilot stable after Abbotsford crash Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board spent the day at Abbotsford Airport trying to figure out why a vintage biplane crashed du

The five victims of a plane crash at Abbotsford Airport on Saturday have all been upgraded to stable condition, organizers of the Abbotsford International Airshow told CTV News Sunday morning.

All five occupants of the aircraft were transported to hospital after the incident. Two were transported by helicopter and three by ground ambulance.

The crash left the pilot in critical condition and one of the passengers in serious condition. The other three passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Witness David Kent told CTV News the 1930s era biplane took off but began rocking from side to side. Its right wing then clipped the ground, sending the aircraft nose-first into the runway.

"It came to an instant stop and fortunately there were no flames," Kent said.

Officials from the Abbotsford International Airshow said the plane, a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, was from a museum in the United States.

"Some of these museum aircraft offer rides to people,” said airshow president Jim Reith. “There are a lot of airshow attendants who are interested to take rides in vintage aircraft, so it was part of that program, one of several aircraft that were doing so.”

The aircraft was part of a series called “Living History Flights,” which had been taking place alongside the airshow. Officials told CTV News the rest of the Living History Flights scheduled for the weekend have been canceled.

The crash took place just after airshow events had concluded for the day, which allowed first-responders who were already on the scene to get to the plane quickly.

Two investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada were called in to review the details of the crash, the cause of which remained unclear Sunday morning.

The airport was closed for several hours following the crash.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Ben Miljure and the Canadian Press