A Federal Express cargo plane crashed in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday, killing the female pilot and narrowly missing nearby cars and buildings, police told Agence France Presse.
The Cessna 208 was en route from Winnipeg in central Canada to Thunder Bay in neighbouring Ontario province when it went down at about 5.45am (10.45am GMT) in the trendy Osborne Village neighborhood of the city.
”We call the traffic area ‘Crazy Corner’ because it’s a heavily populated and well-travelled area,” said Sergeant Shelly Glover. Seven roads intersect at the corner.
The fully loaded, single engine turboprop Cessna owned by Morningstar Air Express of Edmonton and under contract to Federal Express crashed into railway tracks along a river behind a temple and burst into flames, officials said.
It was snowing and foggy when the plane took off from a nearby airport, witnesses told police.
This is the second aircraft to go down within city limits in recent years.
Another small plane crashed into a busy street in the city’s north end in June 2002 after it ran out of fuel.
One of six passengers on that flight later died in hospital from his injuries and the pilot was charged with criminal negligence causing death and the dangerous operation of an aircraft. – AFP
