Skip to content

Man dies in Surrey plane crash

A plane – possibly an ultralight – appears to have taken a nose dive in a field west of King George Boulevard and Highway 99.
59363surreyPlanecrashWEB-ES

A man died Friday afternoon after his ultralight plane nose-dived into a Surrey agricultural field.

Just after 3 p.m. Friday, crews head to the crash site, examining the wreckage of the plane – quite possibly an ultralight – which appears to have done a nose dive into the ground west of King George Boulevard.

Witnesses say the plane was flying northwest, then turned east when it went down.

The man, believed to be the pilot, and the only person in the craft, died at the scene.

Arnold Klappe, with King George Airpark, near King George Boulevard and Colebrook Road, said Friday he was unsure whether or not the craft was using his runway.

Police have since said the craft did take off from King George Airpark.

The crash comes just over two weeks after an ultralight was forced to make a crash landing on Highway 91 during rush hour.

That plane had taken off from King George Airpark without Klappe's knowledge.

Klappe told The Leader at the time he'd warned the pilot not to fly the ultralight.

Klappe said at the time that flying ultralights is an extremely safe sport, noting that even during the rare times there is a problem, the low airspeed and steel cage makes injury extremely uncommon.

Multiple investigations are under way regarding that crash.

The B.C. Coroner's Service and the Transportation Safety Board have been alerted to Friday's crash.