2 taken to hospital after aircraft skids off runway at Abbotsford airport in snowy weather

An Island Express Air plane skidded off the runway at Abbotsford International Airport early Friday afternoon as heavy snow blanketed the Lower Mainland.

Airport general manager Parm Sidhu said 10 people were on board, eight passengers and 2 crew members. None had life-threatening injuries.

"Around 12 o'clock, we received notification that an aircraft had gone off radar," he said. "We inspected the airfield and we found a King Air north of the runway."

Sidhu said two of the passengers were taken to hospital and two others were treated for minor injuries at the scene. 

Dan Nielsen, a manager with Island Express Air, says the aircraft was destined for California and piloted by a captain with "many, many" years of flight experience.

This was the only flight from the company that had taken off since the snowstorm, but Nielsen would not say if weather was a factor.

Airport crews had been de-icing all morning and there was a lot of the chemical on the runway," according to Sidhu.

People from a variety of nearby businesses said visibility at the airport was poor because of blowing snow.

Shortly after the aircraft skidded off the runway, firefighters, police and paramedics set up a command post on site.

The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause. 

With files from Lien Yeung