Pilot Suffers Serious Injuries

Sixty-three year-old Philip de Ridder was seriously injured Saturday when the Seawind 3000 he was piloting reportedly experienced engine problems and went down near Mission Golf Course in Vancouver, British Columbia. No one on the ground was hurt. Witnesses told the RCMP that they heard what sounded like an aircraft with engine problems prior to the accident.

File Photo

The Vancouver Sun reports that de Ridder co-owned the aircraft with Dr. Gabor Balogh. While he had not spoken with de Ridder, Balogh said "(h)e's a good pilot."

Balogh also said he thought the Seawind was in good mechanical condition. "We've flown that thing individually all over North America, Alaska, to East Coast, everywhere. It's a well-built plane, all the scheduled maintenance has been done and the engine was running really well. We keep it in top shape," he told the paper.

Balogh was in Ontario at the time of the crash, but told authorities he had flown the plane the previous week, and everything worked fine. Transport Canada will investigate the accident.

FMI: www.tc.gc.ca/air/menu.htm