Safety investigators on site at mid-air collision that left four dead in B.C.

PEMBERTON, B.C. – Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are at the scene of a mid-air collision between a glider and a small plane that left four people dead in B.C.

The crash happened Saturday near Pemberton, about 150 kilometres north of Vancouver, where the Cessna plane and the glider collided above Nairn Falls Provincial Park, raining debris down on a campground full of long-weekend travellers.

Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board says two investigators have been sent to the scene to examine the debris and interview witnesses.

It’s too early to speculate on the cause, but Yearwood says it’s obvious that the pilots of the two aircraft, which were flying without advanced navigational equipment in an area that isn’t overseen by a control tower, didn’t see each other.

Yearwood says the safety board has launched a full investigation that will result in a public report about what happened and whether any systemic safety issues must be addressed.

The police have not released the identity of the victims, though the RCMP has confirmed the plane was from 100 Mile House and the glider was based out of Pemberton.