bstratt
Cleared for Takeoff
Looks like he stalled it.
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Plane crash kills four in northern Alberta
KATHERINE HARDING
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Harold Burroughs was swathing grain late Saturday night when the northern Alberta farmer looked up into the Prairie sky and saw a tiny plane spiralling toward earth before nosediving into a creek bank.
"They were all dead upon impact," he said about the fate of the Cessna 177's four occupants, including the 48-year-old male pilot, two males -- aged 19 and 15 -- and a 16-year-old female. "There was nothing left of the plane. It was smashed all to pieces."
Mr. Burroughs said he knew all of the victims. "Everybody knows everybody around here. Even before I got there, I figured that it would be somebody local."
The crash occurred half a kilometre south of Deadwood, Alta., a hamlet of about 100 residents located 600 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, around 9:50 p.m.,
While the RCMP were not releasing the names of the deceased yesterday because officers were still notifying next of kin, several locals said the pilot was Nick Gudzinski. He was on a sightseeing tour with his 19-year-old son, Jonathan, and they were accompanied by Jonathan's girlfriend, Lauranda Soroka, 16, and her 15-year-old brother, Delton.
They were all residents of Manning, Alta., which is about 15 kilometres northwest of Deadwood.
Mr. Burroughs said that shortly before the crash, he saw the single-engine aircraft's wings begin "flopping up and down a bit.
"Then, all of a sudden, it went into a steep climb," he said. "It shot up a couple hundred feet and then it stalled. Then it came down -- straight down, nose first -- spinning around and around before plowing into the ground."
Mr. Burroughs rushed to the crash site, about 800 metres from where he had been working, and was met by four other locals who had also witnessed the crash. It was still light outside because the sun sets later in northern Alberta during the summer months.
"There wasn't much we could do," Mr. Burroughs said, adding the downed plane never caught fire. "They took their pulse and they were all dead."
He has no idea what caused the crash.
"Maybe [the pilot] lost control. I don't know," he said. "Maybe there was a problem with the plane."
John Lee, regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said two investigators have been dispatched. They arrived at the crash site around noon yesterday.
Deadwood resident Jean Bradshaw said local residents are "real shook up."
On Saturday night, many people had gathered at the local hall and baseball diamond for "Deadwood Days," an annual celebration. News of the crash spread quickly through the small farming community.
Ms. Bradshaw said Mr. Gudzinski was a well-known and respected businessman. "Everybody knows him because he runs a business in Manning. Everybody knows both the families involved," she said.
Mr. Gudzinski's surviving son, Robin, 23, told an Edmonton newspaper that his father, who owned a building supplies store, was a solid family man who loved to fly. The family has a private airstrip on their property.
"Whenever he was done work or had nothing else to do, he would go for a fly. He loved flying," Robin said, adding his dad had his pilot's licence for about 15 years and flew an average of twice a week.
Deadwood isn't the only small Canadian community dealing with the aftermath of a fatal plane crash.
Last Wednesday, six people -- the pilot and five passengers -- were killed when the Cessna 337 they were flying in crashed into a mountain en route to Norman Wells, NWT, from Fort Good Hope.
The passengers were returning from the funeral of two men who had drowned last month in the Mackenzie River. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is still investigating that crash.
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Plane crash kills four in northern Alberta
KATHERINE HARDING
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Harold Burroughs was swathing grain late Saturday night when the northern Alberta farmer looked up into the Prairie sky and saw a tiny plane spiralling toward earth before nosediving into a creek bank.
"They were all dead upon impact," he said about the fate of the Cessna 177's four occupants, including the 48-year-old male pilot, two males -- aged 19 and 15 -- and a 16-year-old female. "There was nothing left of the plane. It was smashed all to pieces."
Mr. Burroughs said he knew all of the victims. "Everybody knows everybody around here. Even before I got there, I figured that it would be somebody local."
The crash occurred half a kilometre south of Deadwood, Alta., a hamlet of about 100 residents located 600 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, around 9:50 p.m.,
While the RCMP were not releasing the names of the deceased yesterday because officers were still notifying next of kin, several locals said the pilot was Nick Gudzinski. He was on a sightseeing tour with his 19-year-old son, Jonathan, and they were accompanied by Jonathan's girlfriend, Lauranda Soroka, 16, and her 15-year-old brother, Delton.
They were all residents of Manning, Alta., which is about 15 kilometres northwest of Deadwood.
Mr. Burroughs said that shortly before the crash, he saw the single-engine aircraft's wings begin "flopping up and down a bit.
"Then, all of a sudden, it went into a steep climb," he said. "It shot up a couple hundred feet and then it stalled. Then it came down -- straight down, nose first -- spinning around and around before plowing into the ground."
Mr. Burroughs rushed to the crash site, about 800 metres from where he had been working, and was met by four other locals who had also witnessed the crash. It was still light outside because the sun sets later in northern Alberta during the summer months.
"There wasn't much we could do," Mr. Burroughs said, adding the downed plane never caught fire. "They took their pulse and they were all dead."
He has no idea what caused the crash.
"Maybe [the pilot] lost control. I don't know," he said. "Maybe there was a problem with the plane."
John Lee, regional manager for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said two investigators have been dispatched. They arrived at the crash site around noon yesterday.
Deadwood resident Jean Bradshaw said local residents are "real shook up."
On Saturday night, many people had gathered at the local hall and baseball diamond for "Deadwood Days," an annual celebration. News of the crash spread quickly through the small farming community.
Ms. Bradshaw said Mr. Gudzinski was a well-known and respected businessman. "Everybody knows him because he runs a business in Manning. Everybody knows both the families involved," she said.
Mr. Gudzinski's surviving son, Robin, 23, told an Edmonton newspaper that his father, who owned a building supplies store, was a solid family man who loved to fly. The family has a private airstrip on their property.
"Whenever he was done work or had nothing else to do, he would go for a fly. He loved flying," Robin said, adding his dad had his pilot's licence for about 15 years and flew an average of twice a week.
Deadwood isn't the only small Canadian community dealing with the aftermath of a fatal plane crash.
Last Wednesday, six people -- the pilot and five passengers -- were killed when the Cessna 337 they were flying in crashed into a mountain en route to Norman Wells, NWT, from Fort Good Hope.
The passengers were returning from the funeral of two men who had drowned last month in the Mackenzie River. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is still investigating that crash.