Engine failure reason plane had to make emergency landing by Monarch Park Collegiate sports field
BY MATTHEW STEPHENS
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has determined engine failure as the cause of the plane crash outside Monarch Park Collegiate at Hanson Street and Coxwell Avenue earlier this week.
On Monday, Sept. 15 at 8:17 p.m., police, fire and emergency response crews were called to a parking lot beside the sports field at the school where a Piper PA-28-140 plane had made an emergency landing and collided with a fence just outside the field.
There were no injuries in the incident. The plane’s pilot and two passengers were able to walk away from the landing.
People playing ultimate frisbee on the field at the time of the incident were also not injured.
The plane departed from Orillia and was headed to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, said a statement sent to Beach Metro Community News from the TSB.
“En route there was an engine failure, and the plane crash-landed in a field in Monarch Park. TSB investigators were on the scene Monday night assessing the site and began interviewing witnesses and those involved,” said the statement.
According to the TSB, the investigation is ongoing, and the exact cause of the engine failure is still unknown.
“It is much too early in the process to know what the cause of the engine failure was. The aircraft was recovered Tuesday afternoon and transported to a secure location in the GTA for further analysis,” said the TSB Canada. “At this stage, we are still gathering information and assessing the circumstances to determine whether a full investigation will be launched.”
At the scene on Monday night, Toronto Fire Chief Jim Jessop told reporters that the plane’s three occupants, believed to be in their mid-30s to mid-40s, were assessed by paramedics and did not require serious medical attention.
“We were very fortunate tonight,” said Jessop. “It could have been a lot worse.”
The TSB said it does not “release or confirm the identity of individuals involved in transportation occurrences, including information related to injuries.”
Jessop said on Monday night that the aircraft appeared to have clipped trees in the adjacent Monarch Park to the west of the sports field before landing and skidding into the fence. Response crews contained leaking fuel and confirmed there was no risk to public safety.
According to a report from CBC News, a recording was uploaded to LiveATC.net, a website that shares air traffic control audio, where the pilot can be heard making a call to the air traffic control operator to inform them of the engine failure.
Moments later, the pilot could be heard responding “Negative” to air traffic control when asked if they would be able to make it to Billy Bishop airport.
The air traffic controller could later be heard requesting the pilot find an empty highway, street, or park to make an emergency landing. In the last moments before the emergency landing, the pilot could be heard announcing their plan to land in the soccer field, mentioning that people were around the field.
The TSB said the incident will be classified once preliminary information is collected, in accordance with its “relative importance, complexity, and potential for yielding safety lessons, in accordance with our Occurrence Classification Policy.”
For more information about the TSB’s investigation process, please go to https://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/index.html
