2 Small Aircraft collide over shopping mall in Montreal's South Shore

[Guest]

I see from the picture that one was from the nearby training school.

Two planes collide over shopping mall in Montreal’s south shore

By Matt Grillo Reporter  Global News

"Two planes collided above the Promenade Saint-Bruno shopping mall, Friday, March 17, 2017." />;

Two planes collided above the Promenade Saint-Bruno shopping mall, Friday, March 17, 2017.

Viviane St-Jean

Longueuil police have reported two planes colliding in Saint-Bruno-De-Montarville.

According to police, the collision took place above the Promenades Saint-Bruno shopping centre, about 25 minutes from Montreal.

One of the planes crashed in the parking lot, while the other was on the roof.

 

Police are still looking to confirm the type of planes involved and if there are any injuries.

 

The Canadian Press
Published Friday, March 17, 2017 1:23PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, March 17, 2017 2:30PM EDT

SAINT BRUNO, Que. -- Police say two people have been injured after two small planes collided over a major shopping mall south of Montreal.

They say one of the planes crashed on the roof of the Promenades Saint-Bruno, while the other slammed into the parking lot.

Longueuil police say each plane only had a pilot on board.

Photos

 

A firefighter and police officers look at the wreckage from a plane crash sits in a parking lot in Saint-Bruno, Que., on Friday, March 17, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

A security perimeter has been set up and the shopping centre has been evacuated.

Witnesses at the scene described hearing a loud bang.

Nheil Martinez, who works inside the mall, was outside smoking a cigarette when he says he saw the shadow of a plane and heard its motor.

"I heard the motor so low to the ground and then a loud boom," he said.

"Then we saw pieces of plane fall out of the sky everywhere."Marrtinez said he ran to the plane and saw a man inside, whose body was crushed.

The name Cargair could be seen on parts of the plane in the parking lot.

Cargair is a pilot-training academy based in nearby Longueuil.

The company did not want to comment when reached by The Canadian Press.

 

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[Kip Powick]

Looking at the debris I think it would be a miracle if there are no "Injuries".

 

Video of crash site in mall parking lot

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/03/17/two-small-planes-collide-over-shopping-mall-south-of-montreal.html

 

[Moon The Loon]

CBC now reporting 1 dead, 3 injured and taken to hospital. No word whether all victims were onboard the two C-152's:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/saint-bruno-plane-crash-2017-1.4029836

Condolences to family and friends of the deceased. Best wishes to the survivors for speedy recoveries.

[Moon The Loon]

Word as of tonight - 2 aircraft; 1 pilot each. 1 pilot dead; 2 injured on ground.

Very sad but thankful not worse.

Both aircraft Cargair trainers. Students? Language? Time & TSB will tell...

[J.O.]

CTV news reports tonight that both were student pilots from China. Hopefully TCAS technology will soon be available for a lower cost. It's rare but devastating when a midair collision happens. 

[Guest]

This followup story says that ATC tried to warn one of the pilots but to no avail:

'Papa November Papa, are you listening?': Air traffic control's frantic message before Saint-Bruno crash

Airport near Montreal was trying to warn pilot of plane preparing for takeoff

By Jonathan Montpetit, CBC NewsPosted: Mar 18, 2017 1:08 PM ET Last Updated: Mar 18, 2017 1:41 PM ET

One of the planes came to rest in the parking lot of a shopping centre on Montreal's South Shore. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Moments before two small airplanes collided with each other in the skies above a suburban shopping centre, air traffic control at Saint-Hubert airport, near Montreal, was trying desperately to warn one of the pilots of nearby traffic. 

"Papa November Papa, are you listening?" an air traffic controller is heard saying on a recording of the communications between the airport and planes in the area. 

The controller is referring to call sign GPNP, a Cessna 152 piloted by a 23-year-old trainee with Cargair, a flight school based at the small airport roughly 15 kilometres west of downtown Montreal. 

Several minutes before the crash, air traffic control is heard asking the pilot of GPNP to maintain a given altitude because of other planes nearby. 

"Papa November Papa identify runway two-four left, wind two-four-zero-five, altimeter three-zero-two-one, turn left downwind, that would be 1,600 feet," the tower said.

Staff from the Transportation Safety Board inspect the wreckage of a Cessna 152 that crashed in a Saint-Bruno, Que. parking lot. (Jean-François Vachon/CBC)

Around 1 p.m. Friday another Cessna 152 registered to the school, call sign FGOI, was taking off from the airport.

It was piloted by a 21-year-old Cargair student, who pointed his craft eastwards towards the Promenades Saint-Bruno shopping centre. Air traffic radioed GPNP to warn him that FGOI was approaching from his left.   

"Papa November Papa make sure you maintain 1,600 feet, traffic 10 o'clock, one mile, a Cessna eastbound, 1,100 feet," the tower is heard saying. 

The warning is repeated when there is no response from the cockpit of GPNP.

"Papa November Papa, are you listening?" air traffic control says once, before repeating the question when there is still no answer.

'It was too late'

From the ground, witnesses described seeing one plane shear the wing off the other. 

"I saw them hit and a wing came off one of the planes, which started to spiral, and the other plane crashed," Carol Pelchat told CBC News on Friday.

FGOI rocketed downwards, its crumpled fuselage coming to rest in the parking lot of the shopping centre, not far from a Sears and a popular burger joint.

Pelchat, a nurse, went to help the 21-year-old pilot. Police at the scene told her "it was too late," and that he was already dead.

The 23-year-old pilot of GPNP was more fortunate. His plane landed on the roof of the shopping centre, which was covered in a thick sheet of snow following a major storm earlier this week. 

He suffered serious injuries, authorities said, but his life is not in danger. No one else suffered serious injuries. 

Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene Friday evening. They will send the wreckage of the two planes back to labs in Ottawa in an effort to piece together what happened. 

Daniel Adams, owner of Cargair, said both pilots involved in the crash were from China, and were among the 150 Chinese students the school helps train every year. 

According to Adams, the 21-year-old was a student pilot, who had 40 hours of flying experience under his belt. The 23-year-old already had his pilot's licence and 140 hours of flying experience.  

• Transportation Safety Board to investigate northern Quebec crash site

Adams also suggested that the perfect flying conditions on Friday meant there was likely a lot of air traffic around the airport. That may have crowded the communication channels between air traffic control and the pilots.  

"Did the pilot clearly hear the communication [from the tower]? Were there two transmissions at the same time?" he said.

"When there is a high density of flights ... it can happen that there is a certain congestion in terms of the communications. But generally everything works fine. Pilots are trained for that type of scenario, as are the air traffic controllers."

[conehead]

He might have been listening, but he might not have understood.

[moeman]

I got used to hearing the "Traffic, Traffic" warning coming from the pointy end every time I worked a flight into Thunder Bay. Flight school nearby, apparently?

[boestar]

Flying in to NC3 (Brampton) one day many years ago the YYZ Controller ushering me through the zone released me in to what he described as a Gaggle of traffic around the airport.  He was right.

Flight schools can put the busiest airports to shame.