A plane carrying a proposal banner burst into flames, leaving the pilot severely injured and a passenger dead.
According to Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, Cessna 172 was carrying a banner that read ‘Will you marry me’ when it suddenly crashed. It is not clear whether the person making the proposal was the passenger who died in the incident.
The pilot has been identified as Gian Pierro Ciambella, the owner of an aerial adverting agency Aerogram.
Montreal police said they responded to a report of a crash at Parc Dieppe near the Concorde Bridge of Montreal’s Ile Sainte-Helene.
Police did not release further details about the passenger who passed away.
The aircraft took off from the St. Mathieu-de-Laprairie Airport at 5:46 pm, CTV News reported. Evidence on the grounds suggests that the small plane bounced and spun when it touched the ground before it came to a halt.
Footage from the scene shows firefighters dousing the flames.
Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Chris Krepski said: “We are looking to speak to the pilot when possible.”
Krepski also said that officials received reports of engine problems on the Cessna. Investigators had yet to determine the main cause of the fatal crash.
The remnants of the aircraft were taken to a laboratory in Ottawa for testing.
“We haven’t ruled out anything yet,” he said. “We need to take a close look at everything.”
Witness Laurel Scala said in an interview with CTV News that she and her husband saw the aircraft towing the proposal banner before it went down.
“It seemed like the normal height that a plane like that would fly when it has a banner,” she said.
Krepski said the banner, which was believed to have dropped into the St. Lawrence River before the crash, hadn’t been found.
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