CARP – An afternoon (Feb. 10) airplane crash near the Carp Airport has claimed the life of the plane’s lone occupant.

An armada of emergency personnel and vehicles descended on the south end of the Carp Airport’s runway earlier today responding to the report of a small plane crash near the airport.

“Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) was notified at 1:05 p.m. a small plane had crashed near the Carp Airport,” OFS public information officer Carson Tharris released in a statement today. “Firefighters arrived on location at 1:14 p.m. and identified smoke coming from a wooded area south of the airport. Firefighters searched the area along with our colleagues at the Ottawa Police Service and the Ottawa Paramedic Service.”

Volunteer firefighters from nearby Station 64 were first on scene, but all available emergency vehicles and agencies responded. When West Carleton Online arrived at approximately 2:10 p.m., roughly 20 to 25 vehicles were on scene attending the call including several firefighting apparatus, three ambulances, many police vehicles, two all terrain vehicles including one equipped with tracks to better negotiate the snow.

The OFS also called in a drone to help with the search for potential victims.

“The plane was located in a forested area south of the runway,” Tharris said. “Firefighters used portable extinguishers to bring the fire under control before setting up a hose line to the forest to fully extinguish the blaze.”

Radio chatter confirmed firefighters found one occupant at roughly 1:40 p.m. just west of the crash near some trees. Firefighters declared the occupant Code Black which often refers to a victim as dead on arrival.

Firefighters and other emergency personnel searched the thick brush for potential other victims. The airplane was so badly burned, its marker could not be identified making it challenging for emergency personnel to find flight information on the plane or confirm how many passengers were aboard.

“The plane is incinerated,” radio chatter from West Carleton Online’s scanner confirmed. “We can’t read the marker.”

 It was later confirmed the pilot was the only one aboard the plane.

By 2:20 p.m. District 6 Chief Bill Bell reported via radio “we’re starting to wind down operations.”

At 3:10 p.m., Bell officially turned the scene over to the Ottawa Police Service “who will liaise with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) when they arrive.”

Contacted following the incident, Bell said he could not provide comment and referred West Carleton Online to the OFS’ public information officer.

The TSB is responsible for the investigation of all incidents involving aircraft.

At3:26 p.m., the TSB released a short statement related to the crash.

“The TSB is deploying a team of investigators to the site of an accident involving a Blackshape BS100 airplane,” the TSB said. “The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence.”