Husband and wife dead after plane crash at Brantford airport

A husband and wife from Brampton are dead, police say, after a plane crash at the Brantford Municipal Airport.

Ronald Chamberlain, 76 and Mildred Chamberlain, 81, were both killed when the plane went down, according to OPP Const. Ken Johnson.

Provincial police were called to the airport around 8 a.m. after the plane was found on the grass beside the runway, coated in a thin layer of snow.

Officials believe it crashed sometime overnight, but the wreckage wasn't found until the following morning.

"They found that a Piper Arrow plane had crashed on the property at the airport sometime throughout the evening," explained Johnson. "It was located sometime this morning."

Resident heard a 'big bang'

John Couperus lives near the airport and said he heard the sound of a plane buzzing around 1 a.m. or 1:30 a.m.

"It was circling and circling," he said, adding he's lived near the airport for years and it's unusual to hear an aircraft flying low that late. "It kept going around and around."

Couperus said he's not sure if the plane he heard was the same one that crashed, but said his wife heard a "big bang" around 2:30 a.m.

We just want to express our condolences and we're just very saddened that this happened.- Maria Visocchi, director of communications for the city of Brantford

The Arrow is described as a "complex single-engine trainer aircraft" on Piper's website, which adds "it provides an easy transition for students moving up to a complex aircraft."

According to the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register, Ronald Chamberlain had been the registered owner of the plane for the last 30 years. It was manufactured in 1975.

Dino Dushica said he was delivering food to a restaurant at the airport Tuesday morning when he noticed there were "firefighters and ambulances and the OPP everywhere."

He said the heavily damaged plane could be seen about 200 metres away from the airport buildings.

"It was crushed."

Airport expresses condolences

Maria Visocchi, director of communications for the city of Brantford, said the plane was a private aircraft.

The airport is staffed seven days a week from dawn until dusk, she explained.

"At the time of the incident we don't believe any staff were at the airport."

Visocchi said she can't speak to what would have caused the crash.

"What I can confirm is that there is a way for pilots to activate lighting on the runway from their cockpit and we don't know whether or not that occurred in this case."

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has been notified and will be investigating.

"We just want to express our condolences and we're just very saddened that this happened," said Visocchi. "We'll do everything we can to make sure we get accurate information out to the public."