Seven people were killed when a small plane with engine trouble crashed and burned after takeoff early Wednesday at Quebec City's Jean-Lesage airport.
Authorities at the international airport said the pilot contacted the control tower shortly after takeoff at 6 a.m. ET to report engine trouble with the aircraft.
The chartered twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane crashed moments later in a private field about two kilometres northwest of the airport and burst into flames, said airport spokesman Jimmy Gagné.
'I really don't understand what happened. I've had twin engine failures at takeoff, and you can still fly on one motor.' —Jacques Pailleur, Aéropro vice-president
Five passengers and two crew members on board were killed.
The aircraft, operated by Quebec City-based company Aéropro, was en route to Sept-Îles and Natashquan.
"We understand this is a very difficult situation for the families, and our thoughts go out to them," Gagné told reporters at the airport.
The pilot, who was from the Quebec City region, had a lot of experience flying similar aircraft, said Jacques Pailleur, vice-president of Aéropro.
"I really don't understand what happened," said Pailleur, a self-described experienced pilot who said it appears the right engine failed. "I've had twin engine failures at takeoff, and you can still fly on one motor.
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"The left motor is fully designed to be able to fly the plane," he added.
"We can hypothesize about what happened, but we will wait for investigators to report."
The Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of three investigators to document the crash.
Nearby residents woken by explosion
The plane hit the ground about 30 metres from Maxime Marois's home near Notre-Dame Street in Sainte-Foy, a borough on the outskirts of Quebec City.
Marois was sleeping in the house along with his mother, his sister and girlfriend when they were awakened by a loud boom that sounded like "lightning struck the ground," he told CBC's French-language service.
He said he knew something was wrong when he heard a second explosion moments later. When he went outside, Marois said he saw flames licking the downed plane.
It was hard to see the crash site from nearby streets because authorities had set up a very large security perimeter, said Radio-Canada journalist Jean-Thomas Léveillée, reporting from the scene Wednesday morning.
The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.
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The airplane was en route to Sept-Îles and Natashquan on Quebec's North Shore when it crashed.
Thick plumes of smoke still rose from the wreckage more than an hour after the crash.
The Jean-Lesage airport is about 20 kilometres from Quebec City.
Airport officials said they don't expect any delays to other flights scheduled on Wednesday.
Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)
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