Critical injuries in plane crash on Highway 401 near Cornwall, Ont.
Two occupants of a small plane were seriously injured when it crashed into the Highway 401 median near Cornwall, Ont. Monday night.
Officials said the Cessna 150 was attempting an emergency landing on the highway west of the Ontario-Quebec border, near Lancaster, Ont. Police said the plane crashed into the highway's centre median in front of the Bainesville ONRoute.
A 26-year-old man was taken to hospital by air ambulance in life-threatening condition, OPP acting Sgt. Erin Cranton said. The other occupant of the plane, a 39-year-old man, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Cranton said police were called to the scene just before 8:15 p.m. Monday. The plane took off from the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Airport in Quebec, on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River about 17 kilometres east of where the crash happened.
The federal Transportation Safety Board is helping with the investigation and has deployed a team of investigators to the scene. Isabelle Langevin, the TSB's director of regional operations for Quebec, said the plane had a problem in the air.
"They attemped to do an emergency landing on the 401," she said. "While lining up to land on the highway they struck a power line that crosses the highway south to north at that particular spot and following that collision, the aircraft collided with the ground."
The highway was closed for about eight hours for the crash. It reopened around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre based in Trenton, Ont. is also helping with the investigation.
Hydro crews were also on site because some wires were struck.
Images from the scene showed emergency crews, hydro vehicles and tow trucks assembled at the Bainsville ONRoute, on the north side of Highway 401.
A Cessna 150 is a small two-seater, single-engine plane. It was produced for about 20 years from the late 1950s to the late 1970s.
Jean-Yves Chevalier, a local pilot who has been flying for more than two decades, said he thinks the flight was a training flight, for which Cessnas are commonly used.
"Normally you are never lower than 1,000 feet over populated areas and 500 feet over wild areas," he said. "For them to be this low, they had to be landing for some mechanical reason."
He said the Cessnas are generally "very, very easy to fly," which is why they are used for training. The plane was right near Lancaster Airpark, a small landing strip, but since it's not lit at night they would not have been able to use it.
"They were expecting a normal emergency landing," Chevalier said. "They would not have expected to hit wires. ... When you hit wires, usually the airplane will flip and then it's just dropping.
"I just hope they recover soon."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.