Spanish pilot missing after small plane crossing Atlantic crashes off Newfoundland

Winnipeg Free Press01-05-2025

ST. JOHN'S – The search for a pilot whose small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland continued for a second day on Wednesday.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning.
A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax says the centre received a signal from an emergency beacon around 9 a.m. Atlantic time.
Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey says the signal came from an area 225 kilometres east of St. John's.
He says two Canadian Coast Guard vessels and two fishing boats were dispatched to the scene to begin the search, and they were joined by a military CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter and a CC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft.
The searchers later found an oil slick, one of the amphibious plane's floats, as well as an empty orange life-raft and some other debris.
Hickey said the transportation board confirmed the turboprop had been purchased in the United States by a man from Spain, whose flight plan included a stopover in St. John's before heading to the Azores, an island chain west of Portugal.
During Elections
Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election.
The highly agile Air Tractor aircraft, which has a range of almost 1,000 kilometres, is primarily used for spraying agricultural crops. But it can also be used for aerial firefighting when equipped with floats.
Typically, smaller aircraft do not have the range to complete a transatlantic flight, but they can be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks to extend their flight time.
'He was working his way up the eastern seaboard with the last touch point in North America being St. John's before he crossed the Atlantic,' Hickey said in an interview. 'The Azores was listed in the flight plan as the destination.'
Hickey said Wednesday the two fishing boats were released from the search later in the day, and he confirmed the search would continue until sundown. At that point if the pilot had not been found, the RCMP was expected to take on the case as a missing person file.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2025.

Hashtags

#TransportationSafetyBoardofCanada

#InternationalAirport

#JointRescueCo-ordinationCentre

#Hickey

#LenHickey

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Edmonton Journal

40 minutes ago

Edmonton Journal

Vermilion plane crash claims two lives

Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) signage is pictured outside TSB offices in Ottawa on Monday, May 1, 2023. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press A passenger and pilot were killed in a plane crash near Vermilion's aerodrome just past noon Saturday. RCMP responded to the scene, just 1.2 kilometres from the aerodrome's runway. The pilot, a 46-year-old woman from Slave Lake, and the passenger, a 76-year-old man from Mannville, did not survive the crash. RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney said police responded after witnesses in the area said they had seen a plane go down. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by David Staples, Keith Gerein and others, Oilers news from Cult of Hockey, Ask EJ Anything features, the Noon News Roundup and Under the Dome newsletters. Unlimited online access to Edmonton Journal and 15 news sites with one account. Edmonton Journal ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Nic Defalco, spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said that air-crash investigators have been dispatched, and would arrive at the crash scene some time Saturday evening. 'It's too early to say anything about the incident,' said Defalco. Investigators can't confirm if the plane was landing or taking off, or even the model of the aircraft. 'We are deploying investigators to the scene, and that's basically where we're at.' The aerodrome has a single runway, at 966 metres long. Vermilion is located 193 kilometres east of Edmonton. Read More . Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun Cult of Hockey Edmonton Oilers Cult of Hockey Cult of Hockey News