A plane crashed at Langley Regional Airport on Tuesday afternoon after cutting into a pickup truck on nearby 216th Street as it was descending, according to local officials.
Officials say a small plane crashed at 3:03 p.m. PT after hitting the truck traveling east on the road that borders the airport.
Langley RCMP say the two occupants of the privately registered Cessna 182 aircraft – a pilot and a passenger – were injured after the plane crashed.
Russ Jenkins, assistant fire chief for the Langley Township Fire Department, said the driver of the van was also injured. All three were taken to Langley Memorial Hospital, with RCMP saying the driver was in stable condition.
“It looks like both wings separated from the plane and the plane caught fire shortly after crashing,” Jenkins told CBC News.
Jenkins says the pilot was able to escape the plane before it caught fire, although it is unclear how badly they were injured. An air ambulance was needed to transport the pilot and passenger to hospital.
Langley is a suburban town of about 140,000 people, located about an hour southeast of Vancouver.
Langley Regional Airport saw nearly 55,000 plane takeoffs and landings in 2022, according to Statistics Canada data. In 2021, the airport was the 23rd busiest in the country by aircraft movements.
Liam Macdonald, spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, said a team of investigators had been dispatched to the airport to determine what led to the crash.
A Langley Township spokesperson said it was still gathering information about the crash and had no details to share as of Tuesday afternoon.
Langley RCMP say anyone with more information about the incident is asked to call them at 604-532-3200.