Five people are dead following a mid-air collision Friday in the town of Penticton, 300 kilometres east of Vancouver in south-central British Columbia.

Reports say four poeple in one aircraft and the pilot in another were killed in the crash just before noon local time.

Witnesses say a tow plane pulling a glider veered into another aircraft as it took off from Penticton Airport. The other plane was trying to land. The crash spread wreckage over the Penticton campus of Okanagan University College, and local businesses.

No one on the ground was injured.

It's not clear why the two planes collided. But the crash is already raising questions about the lack of air traffic controllers at the airport. They were eliminated four years ago in a cost-cutting move by Transport Canada.