One of the survivors of a plane crash on a busy Winnipeg street two years ago testified in a city court Tuesday morning at the pilot's trial for criminal negligence.
The Piper Navajo aircraft went down near the intersection of McPhillips Street and Logan Avenue, just south of the McPhillips Street underpass, on June 11, 2002.
The plane, which was en route from a northern Manitoba fishing lodge, ran out of fuel and was unable to land at Winnipeg's airport.
All of the passengers survived the crash with varying injuries, but one man, 79-year-old Chester Jones, died months later in a Kansas hospital as a result of his injuries.
No one on the ground was injured, and the plane missed two nearby gas stations and homes in the area.
The pilot, Mark Tayfel, now faces charges of criminal negligence causing death.
"It took my father's life — a long, slow death. Very painful," recalls Sheila Floodman-McCallister, recalling her father's battle for survival after the crash.
Floodman-McCallister's son, Blake Floodman, then 16, was on the fishing trip with his grandfather, his uncle and a family friend.
He was sleeping on the flight back to Winnipeg when he awoke after the plane jerked suddenly. He saw the pilot fiddling with some gauges on the floor.
"Then I looked up to the fuel gauge itself and they both read empty," he said Monday.
"At that point I was kind of nervous."
The plane would make it to the airfield in Winnipeg, but was unable to land on the first pass.
Floodman told the court that as the Navajo Chieftain turned for another try, the engines sputtered and quit.
He recalled smoke and flames at the crash site and eventually escaping through the emergency door.
"I thought I was going to die, as simple as that," he said.
"I never knew anyone who survived a plane crash, so I didn't think I was going to.
"
In the spring of 2003, the Transportation Safety Board said its investigation had determined the pilot was flying too high and too fast to make a successful landing at the Winnipeg airport. The pilot also miscalculated how much fuel was needed for the flight, officials said.
The TSB's report said the pilot didn't tell air traffic controllers about his critical situation soon enough, and the aircraft did not meet regulations for the flight because it did not have an autopilot system.
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Keywords: Toronto Raptors, Winnipeg Street, Floodman Mccallister, Mcphillips Street
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