Kingston police, near Ontario in Canada have confirmed that seven people are dead, including two minors, after a small aircraft crashed in the town’s wood.
Khou.com said the pilot of the plane, Obatek Oblokulov, died, along with his wife and three of his children, a three-year-old son, an 11-year-old daughter, and a 15-year-old son.
Also dead was a young Canadian couple that was also on board.
FAA records show Obatek Oblokulov was a registered pilot and operated a Piper PA-32. His address is in Missouri City, Texas.
A friend of the pilot said he was being expected for a brief stopover in Kingston before heading to Quebec City.
Police were made aware of a missing small US registered airplane around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, which prompted a search of a wooded area in Kingston’s west end.
News report said the Canadian police found the wreck of the Piper PA-32 plane late Wednesday after it had been reported missing earlier in the day.
Officers said the plane was difficult to access so decided to wait until Thursday morning and the arrival of air crash investigators in order to recover it.
Kingston Police tweeted early Thursday that police, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and coroner’s office are on the scene and asked motorists to avoid the area.
TSB said the plane had taken off from Buttonville Municipal Airport, in Markham, north of Toronto, early Wednesday and had been heading for Kingston Airport.
The plane was later reported missing, and police sent to search for it.
TSB said the cause of the accident is unknown, but the suspect weather played a part. Environment Canada was warning of gusts up to 50mph.
Police said they will not be revealing the number of fatalities until their investigation has been completed. —Mail Online
