10 June 2024
Video has emerged of a de Havilland Beaver seaplane on take-off colliding with a small boat just off Vancouver waterfront.
It shows the Harbour Air Beaver under full power approaching the boat which appears to have wandered onto the water runway. Neither craft makes any attempt to avoid the collision.
Amazingly, it appears no one was killed in the accident although there were a number of injuries and some people were taken to hospital by rescue services.
The location, Coal Harbour, is the site for Vancouver’s downtown seaplane terminal served by Harbour Air and another operator, Seair Seaplanes.
Harbour Air spokeswoman Jessica Dunn confirmed it was one of thair aircraft and said the pilot and all five passengers on the plane operating a scenic tour were safe and all passengers on the boat were “accounted for.”
“Safety remains our utmost priority,” Dunn said in the statement.
“At this time, we are working closely with the authorities to gather more information about this incident and supporting the affected parties.”
A local boat ferry, the SeaBus, saw the incident and provided assistance to those in the water.
The accident occurred in an area of water known as ‘Alpha’ and one of three zones used for seaplane operations. It is also the busiest of the three, with around 60,000 movements a year.
Another clear visual of the incident in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour near Stanley Park : Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has confirmed the downed aircraft is a De Haviland DHC-2 Mark 1, commonly referred to as a Beaver, which carries up to six passengers.
A spokesperson… https://t.co/tAOYaxYXNv pic.twitter.com/ouv9eqtiCe
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) June 10, 2024
