'Right place at the right time': Coastal First Nations members help save floatplane passengers after Tofino crash
Witnesses say it happened in the blink of an eye.
On Monday, a floatplane landing in Tofino’s harbour banked hard at the last moment, but not before hitting a water taxi.
"One of my good friends drives the boat. I thought I was witnessing my friend die in front of me," said witness, Floyd Campbell Jr.
Watching on in horror, Campbell says the plane's propeller lightly clipped the boat, throwing sparks into the blue water below.
The aircraft's pontoon would also scrape against the small water taxi before it splashed down into the harbour.
As the vessel began sinking, a group of First Nations water taxi pilots on a nearby dock quickly jumped into action.
Full throttle, water taxi pilot Kenney Brown rushed to the side of the half-submerged plane and began doing what he knows all too well.
"I pulled the child in first, then the father and then the two ladies," said Brown.
On Monday, the Ahousaht First Nations member would save four people from the cold Pacific water rushing up around them.
The pilot of the plane jumped on to the water taxi he struck, which, according to its owner, suffered only cosmetic damage.
No one was seriously injured in the crash.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Rescuing strangers in dangerous situations is nothing new for Kenney Brown.
In 2015, he would help save more than a dozen people from a sinking whale watching boat off Tofino.
At the time, the Leviathan II was hit with a rogue wave while on a tour near Vargas Island.
Six people would die in one of the worst modern nautical disasters on Canada’s far West Coast.
This week, Brown was again where he seems to be when disaster strikes.
Water taxi pilot Kenney Brown helped rescue passengers aboard a floatplane that flipped in Tofino: (CTV News)
"I was in the right place at the right time," Brown told CTV Vancouver Island.
"The one young kid I saved is the same age as my son," he said. "I couldn't fathom my son climbing out of a plane like that. My heart was heavy. I cried."
According to the owner of the water taxi hit by the Tofino Air floatplane, the crash is now under investigation by the Transportation Safety Board.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
'Trees going up like Roman candles' as wildfire season starts early in B.C.
Susanne Langan first noticed the Burgess Creek wildfire from her home in British Columbia's Cariboo region on Saturday afternoon as a distant, thin column of smoke.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
Indian national sentenced in US$150M Canadian, U.S. dark web drug enterprise
An Indian national has been sentenced in the United States to five years in prison in connection with a dark web drug enterprise that stretched as far as Canada, an American Department of Justice (DOJ) release says.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire alert issued for area northwest of Edmonton cancelled
A wildfire alert for Lac Ste Anne County that was issued on Monday afternoon has ended.
Search for missing kayakers off Vancouver Island expands into U.S.
Authorities on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border resumed search efforts Monday to find two men who went missing while kayaking off Vancouver Island over the weekend.