A Squamish man is recovering in Victoria General Hospital with a broken pelvis after surviving a plane crash Monday (Aug. 4) in dense old growth north of Port Hardy, killing five of its passengers.Lorne Clowers, 56, was one of seven Seaspan International employees aboard a Pacific Coastal Airlines Grumman Goose seaplane that took off from Port Hardy Airport on route to Chamiss Bay in Northern Vancouver Island, where they were to load logs onto a barge.Two of the passengers, Clowers and Bob Pomponio, escaped from the downed plane minutes before it succumbed to a series of explosions, according to a RCMP news release.Clowers's daughter, who was reached at his home Thursday (Aug. 7), said it's a very difficult time, but "he is doing fine and he will recover fine."The plane went down 15 minutes after taking off at 7:08 a.m. - a stalled engine is suspected as the cause - but Pacific Coastal Airlines only realized there was a problem nearly three hours later when Chamiss Bay reported it overdue. At approximately 9:53 a.m., Pacific Coastal contacted Comox Rescue Co-ordination Center with information of a possible plane down. The emergency locator transmitter was believed to have been disabled upon impact, but Pomponio was able to use his cell phone to call and text message rescuers and lead them to their location. "The terrain where the plane went down is described as very dense with 50-year-old growth," stated a RCMP news release. "The site is not viewable from the air and is not accessible by road."Rescuers located the plane at 4:30 p.m. after passing over numerous times. Survivors were airlifted by Cormorant helicopter, and Pomponio was released from hospital shortly thereafter. Transport Canada and the Transport Safety Board are investigating.
