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Float plane flips over during take off in Tofino, B.C., causing minor injuries

TOFINO, B.C. — The Transportation Safety Board says it's assessing information related to a float plane that flipped over while taking off from Tofino, B.C., on Monday.

TOFINO, B.C. — The Transportation Safety Board says it's assessing information related to a float plane that flipped over while taking off from Tofino, B.C., on Monday. 

Board spokesperson Alexandre Fournier says the float-equipped Cessna A185F "nosed over in shallow water" during take off from the harbour. 

Fournier says in an email that the plane from Atleo River Air Services Ltd. had a pilot and four passengers aboard and they were all able to get out and onto a sandbar. 

He says they reported minor injuries. 

Misty Lawson, a dispatcher with Atleo River Air Services, says the plane hit an "exceptionally large" wake from a boat on take off and became airborne prematurely.

She says the plane then hit a bad angle and tipped over in the shallows of the sandbar.

She says the pilot is highly experienced and the flight had been headed to a community up the coast from Tofino.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2021.

The Canadian Press