The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released its findings into a plane crash last month in Maple Ridge that originated from Delta.
In a report released Wednesday on the TSB website, investigators have ruled that the flight, which originated from the International Flight Centre, a flight training school located at the Boundary Bay Airport, was caused by a collision with terrain.
In the report, the TSB stated that on June 6, a Cessna 172M aircraft (registration CF-CCV) operated by the International Flight Centre was conducting a local training flight from Boundary Bay Airport, with a student and a flight instructor on board.
At 1312:36 Pacific Daylight Time, the aircraft disappeared from radar over the Fraser River near Maple Ridge. The aircraft was last recorded travelling eastbound at an altitude of 200 feet with an airspeed of 80 knots.
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing aircraft.
The aircraft remains missing and the fate of the crew is unknown.
Repeated calls and emails to the International Flight Centre by the Optimist for comment have not been returned.
The Vancouver Police Marine Unit, RCMP Underwater Recovery team, RCMP Air 5 helicopter and multiple search and rescue teams searched the surrounding area and Fraser River for the airplane for days, but there have been no confirmed sightings, or recovery of any parts of the plane, and no contact with those on board.
Ridge Meadows RCMP said that search efforts have also been hampered by high water flows in the Fraser River.
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates air, marine, pipeline, and rail transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
