The pilot of a small private plane that crashed in a wooded area of Gabriola Island, killing everyone on board, has been identified by friends as Alex Bahlsen, an experienced aviator and flight instructor.
Bahlsen, 61, who recently moved with his wife to Mill Bay from Calgary, crashed on the northwest corner of the Gulf Island, east of Nanaimo.
Friend Rasmus Rydstr酶m-Poulsen, who was at home in Calgary on Wednesday caring for a newborn as he tried to come to grips with his friend鈥檚 death, said Bahlsen was 鈥渁 very, very, extremely capable flight instructor.鈥�
Bahlsen, originally from Germany, flew small aircraft, including float planes and helicopters, and owned a flight school and airport in Cayley, Alta., Rydstr酶m-Poulse said. The business is called A.J. Flying Ranch.
Rydstr酶m-Poulsen said he has flown with Bahlsen many times and his friend was known to fly frequently.
鈥淭his is the last thing I was expecting,鈥� Rydstr酶m-Poulse said of Bahlsen, who has two adult daughters and is a grandfather. 鈥淗e was incredible. He was absolutely wonderful. He was an adventure of a person.
鈥淭his is a complete shock.鈥�
Multiple people are believed to have died when the small twin-engine propeller aircraft piloted by Bahlsen crashed in what witnesses described as a 鈥渉uge explosion鈥� on Gabriola Island Tuesday night.
The Transportation Safety Board, which was at the site on Wednesday, said the flight departed from Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, California, en route to Nanaimo. The aircraft was in the process of an instrument approach to a runway at Nanaimo Airport when the crash occurred.
The TSB said its investigators were unable to determine the registration of the aircraft, which was 鈥渆xtensively broken up,鈥� and the total number of people on board has not been verified, nor has anyone on board been identified. It said investigators will continue to collect data and survey the crash site today.
B.C. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Chris Manseau said the plane crashed on the northwest corner of the island in a residential area, on Decourcy Drive, close to Twin Beaches.
It鈥檚 horrible and tragic for the families of the deceased and for nearby residents who saw the plane crash, Manseau said.
The B.C. Coroners Service said confirmation of the number and identities of those who died and notifying family members could take several days. Spokesman Andy Watson said identifying the dead could involve matching multiple pieces of information, including the plane鈥檚 manifest, identification found at the scene and identification of the human remains.
鈥淭hat is something we will release as soon as we鈥檙e confident in that information,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working on it, but we鈥檙e going to wait until we鈥檙e 100 per cent confident in our information before we release that.鈥�
Reports of a plane crash came in to first responders just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
Will Sprogis, chief of the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department, said he was on his way to an evening of training when he got a call about the crash and went directly to the site, where he saw the scattered remains of the aircraft. Three fires were burning intensely and the smell of aviation fuel was strong. 鈥淭hree main parts of the plane [were] on fire,鈥� said Sprogis.
Fire trucks and firefighters arrived minutes later. One of their first tasks was to post warning signs around a power pole that had been struck by the plane on its way down.
Sprogis said it鈥檚 fortunate for nearby residents that the plane crashed in a park that鈥檚 about an acre in size and provides public access to Twin Beaches. 鈥淚t was just lucky that it crashed there rather than ending up on a house,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a densely populated neighbourhood.鈥�
Gabriola resident Dave Holme said he saw the plane hurtle toward the ground and ran to look for survivors. 鈥淚 saw the plane spiralling toward the ground. The engines were going 鈥� but they didn鈥檛 sound normal,鈥� Holme said. 鈥淎bout five houses down from us, I saw it nose-dive into the ground, and then the explosion was just immense 鈥� all the houses completely shook.鈥�
Holme said he ran into the bushes at the crash site and yelled to see if anyone was alive and able to respond.
鈥淚 was probably within, I鈥檇 have to say, five feet of the fuselage 鈥� and just fire 鈥� all around me, the ground was literally on fire.
鈥淚 saw the rear end of the plane sticking out of the ground. 鈥� I couldn鈥檛 see any wings. Part of the motor was on one part of the property and the other part of the motor was over on the other side of the property. It hit with such force, it just disintegrated the plane.鈥�
Gabriola resident Jean Wyenberg said it was dark and foggy when the crash occurred.
She said she had the television on when she heard a loud explosion that sounded 鈥渓ike nothing I鈥檝e ever heard before. It was loud. It was pretty scary. You just don鈥檛 know what it is.
鈥淚 thought, 鈥極K I鈥檓 still here so what was it?鈥� 鈥�
Wyenberg called 911, then stepped outside her house. She said she helped direct emergency vehicles to the site off Decourcy Drive, but didn鈥檛 go into the crash scene because she didn鈥檛 want to get in the way of emergency responders.
鈥淗ow terrifying that must have been to be in that plane and realize what was about to happen,鈥� said Wyenberg. 鈥淎nd it must have been horrifying for those who saw it.鈥�
B.C. Emergency Health Services said two ambulances stationed on the island were dispatched to the scene and five others joined them by ferry.
鈥� With files from Richard Watts and The Canadian Press
