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The two people who escaped from an overturned Piper Cherokee aircraft that landed in ocean near Royston Saturday afternoon had likely ventured to the Comox Valley to see the sights.
The plane was headed for Pitt Meadows.
Such pleasure flights are “quite common,” in the area, said Ray Henault, vice-president of the Courtenay Airpark Association. He said several aircraft were in and out of the area Saturday because of the beautiful weather.
“There were probably half a dozen aircraft on the field and going in or out about the time that [the pilot] landed.”
He said the plane stopped at the airpark for a couple of hours before leaving.
“I know that they started up around 20 after three and took off around 3:30.”
The pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries when their plane went into the ocean and flipped about six kilometres into their flight. Royston is on the air-traffic route for the airpark, Henault said.
“So if you’re taking off or landing, you’re going to go by Royston one way or the other.”
Bystanders assisted when the plane was in the water, Henault said. “They were helped out of the aircraft by a couple of from Royston who waded out,” he said.
Henault said he did not know if the pilot and passenger were still in the Courtenay area.
He said he had a call from Environment Canada asking if there had been any fuel lost in the crash. “We don’t know for sure.”
The Transportation Safety Board has been in touch with local officials.
Henault said be didn’t think the plane had been salvaged from the water by Sunday afternoon.
“There’s always the risk that fuel will leak out of the tanks.”
Heanault said the only aircraft facility in the vicinity other than the airpark is at CFB Comox.
“It’s restricted to military aircraft and commercial-passenger services.”
He said the airpark, in downtown Courtenay, offers a range of services such as self-serve fuelling, a pilots’ lounge and flight-planning facilities. There are also maintenance areas and flying schools.
jwbell@timescolonist.com