Tuesday afternoon's plane crash on Lake St. John in Ramara Township was caused by a training exercise gone awry, OPP officials said.
Shortly after 4 p.m. on July 23, Orillia OPP, Orillia OPP Marine Unit, Ramara Fire and Simcoe County paramedics responded to the scene where a float plane crashed into the water while landing.
“It was part of a training exercise. The guy was doing a manoeuvre for a training exercise, and it didn't quite work out,” said OPP Const. Derek Tilley.
After the crash, the pilot managed to climb out of the plane before getting rescued, Tilley said.
“There was an instructor that was on the dock and the male was able to get out of the plane and then get on the belly of the plane, and then the instructor came and got him,” he said.
The pilot sustained only minor injuries and was transported to hospital as a precaution.
The plane still remains in the water, Tilley said, with buoys marking its location.
“The plane is still in the water, and it has buoys marking where it is, (and) Ramara Fire (put) out sponges to soak up any fluids that come out,” he said. “Transportation will be coming in to remove the plane.”
