Seven dead in small plane crash in Canada

Five Americans and two Canadians were killed when a small airplane crashed in a wooded area on the north shore of Lake Ontario, Canada’s transport safety agency said Thursday.

The US-registered single-engine Piper PA-32 plane departed from Toronto’s Buttonville Airport and was apparently headed to Quebec City when it crashed on the approach path to the Kingston, Ontario airport on Wednesday just after 5 pm local time (2200 GMT), Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigator Ken Webster told a press conference.

Emergency services, including police on all territory vehicles and a military search and rescue helicopter, were dispatched to locate the downed plane, which was found in an area that is hard to reach due to thick brush.

“Five Americans and two Canadians were aboard,” TSB spokeswoman Nora Vallee told sources

Canadian media reported that the pilot was from the state of Texas and the plane was carrying his girlfriend, three children aged three, 11 and 15 along with two Canadians.

TSB spokesman Alexandre Fournier said that they would also try to recover the plane’s flight recorder and review radio communications with control towers.

The identities of the victims were not released.