Four people now have a tale to tell that few can – and a tale that few people would want to experience.
A light plane carrying a pilot and three passengers crashed on the outskirts of Salmon Arm Monday afternoon, and all four people survived the impact.
The crash occurred just before 2 p.m.
According to initial reports, the pilot of the Skyhawk Cessna 172 had just taken off from the airport in Salmon Arm.
When the plane had difficulty maintaining elevation, the pilot attempted to turn back to the airport but was forced to make an emergency landing. She landed in a recently plowed farmer’s field near the former KOA Campground off Highway 97B and 10th Avenue NE.
The aircraft sank into the soft dirt and then flipped onto its roof. Fortunately, the wreckage did not catch fire.
Occupants of the plane were taken to hospital for examination. The three passengers were released and the pilot remained in hospital. Salmon Arm RCMP report that all four suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
A spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board says the accident has been deemed a Class 5, meaning the board will not be doing a full investigation or final report. The decision was made, she said, because doing an investigation would not “advance transportation safety.”
No names have been released.