'Seeing the plane sink right before our eyes' SeaBus crew recounts moment float plane crashed

Visibility was excellent on a clear sunny Saturday in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour, when a SeaBus captain spotted a float plane lying awkwardly in the water.

After a second look, Capt. April Larson realized the aircraft was floundering, and there was a good chance there were passengers aboard.

“What's remarkable about these plane accidents, is they start to sink so quickly,” Capt. Larson told CTV News.

“I was seeing the plane sink right before our eyes,” she said.

She immediately had the SeaBus diverted, then informed the crew and the control centre of the situation, before making an announcement to inform the passengers.

“I felt the boat come to a really slow halt and I was like, ‘What's going on?’” said SeaBus attendant Erin Young, who was posted downstairs.

As the vessel got closer to the scene of Saturday's collision, Young could see that a rescue was underway.

“I could see the plane, and it was still above water, and people were on top of the plane,” she told CTV News.

Coincidentally, the crew had just run a “man overboard” safety drill that very morning.

“So we stood by, and got ready to drop the ladder and go out the window,” said SeaBus attendant Gregory Nicholl.

In the event of an emergency like this, SeaBus crew members can help haul people out of the water. If needed, life vests can be thrown into the sea to give victims something to grab onto and use as a temporary floatation device. There are also several life rafts on board.

As the crew waited on scene for instructions from the Coast Guard, they were impressed by the response they were seeing from other vessels—more and more boaters kept arriving to offer assistance.

“It’s the law,” she said Capt. Larson. “If you see someone in need, in trouble, you must help them.”

In the end, their help wasn’t needed this time, thanks to a tremendous life-saving response.

Transportation Safety Board investigating collision

That life-saving response involved deployments of firefighters, police, paramedics, the port authority and the Coast Guard.

They were spurred to action after a Harbour Air seaplane on a scenic tour collided with a recreational boat during takeoff at about 12:50 p.m. Saturday.

According to Harbour Air, all five passengers and the pilot were uninjured in the crash.

Two of the passengers on the boat were taken to hospital with injuries BC Emergency Health Services described as minor.

A Transportation Safety Board investigator examines the boat involved in a crash with a float plane on Saturday, June 8. (Courtesy: Transportation Safety Board of Canada) What comes next is an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which publishes reports identifying the factors that contributed to each civil aviation incident that occurs in the country’s airspace.

The TSB told CTV News it confirmed the details of the incident with authorities and first responders on Saturday, and it began interviewing witnesses on Sunday.

Investigators also took photos of the crash site and the boat. The aircraft is currently underwater and secured to a barge at the Main Street Dock.

In the coming days, the plane will be recovered from the water and the TSB will examine the wreckage.