Just call it the Miracle at Monarch Park.
A small plane carrying three passengers crash landed into a chain-link fence Monday night during a soccer match at the field near Monarch Park Collegiate in the heart of east end 色色啦 with no one injured.
鈥淲e got very lucky tonight,” 色色啦 Fire Chief Jim Jessop told media at the scene. “The plane crashed into the fence. As you can see the trees behind me, it appears to me that it came through the trees and then landed on the ground and skidded into the fence.
“I am happy to report there are no injuries to the occupants of the airplane and no injuries to the civilians who were playing soccer on the field 鈥 as you can see, the game continues.”
A spokesperson for 色色啦 Fire Services confirmed that its hazmat team responded to the incident due to a potential fuel leak from the plane which was later reported to have been contained.
Reports said the occupants were all adults between 30 and 40.
Witness Frank Leonardo was playing soccer on a nearby field when the plane crash landed.
“We just saw a plane flying really low, lower than those lights, and we were like, ‘Whoa! What’s going on here,’” Leonardo told CP24. “I was about a hundred metres away. It could have landed on me. Thank God.”
Leonardo said the whole field was being played on.
Other witnesses on the scene reported virtually no damage to property 鈥 incredible considering the population density of that area of 色色啦.
Soccer players wrap up their game just metres away from where a plane crashed earlier Monday night near Monarch Park Collegiate in East York.
Sophie BouquillonThe area includes Monarch Park Collegiate, an off-leash dog park and several low-rise apartment buildings.
Not long after the crash, the scene on the sports field was surreal.
The plane lay in one corner roped off with yellow caution tape, its nose tilted toward the ground and the lights of police vehicles flashing off its fuselage.聽
Meanwhile, in the centre of the field about two dozen people played a game of ultimate frisbee, and local residents wandered by to get a peek at the wreckage.
One kid took selfies with the plane in the background.
Maria Novello, who lives on Monarch Park Ave., said she saw sirens on the street and wanted to see what was going on.
鈥淚鈥檝e lived in the neighbourhood for a very long time,” Novello said, “and nothing like this has ever happened here before.鈥
She was relieved no one was hurt.
色色啦 first responders stand near the relatively intact remains of the Piper Cherokee four-seater that crash landed into a chain-link fence near a soccer field at Monarch Park Collegiate.
Sophie Bouquillon鈥淵ou see a lot of people playing at this stadium, it鈥檚 a very active stadium, there鈥檚 a lot of kids,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t could have been much worse.鈥
Kenn Harvey, the principal of Monarch Park Collegiate,聽said damage appeared to be limited to a workout facility on the edge of the field and he expected classes would go ahead as normal on Tuesday.聽
鈥淎s far as I can tell everything鈥檚 going to be fine tomorrow,鈥 he said. 鈥淪chool will be open.鈥
Another witness was shocked by how intact the plane was on the ground.
“It’s in one piece still,” a man named Devon told CP24. “It looks like it’s in mint condition.”聽
A plane, matching the call numbers C-FXGC of the downed plane, is registered to the online Flight Club Life website for rental at $121 an hour.
The Piper Cherokee PA28-140 four-seater is described on the site as a “great time builder, based Downtown 色色啦 CYTZ (Billy Bishop airport), with the best view in the city!”
It goes on to say they are seeking pilots that will “consistently fly.聽25 hour block times required.聽$250 for insurance costs (1 year).
With files from Ben Spurr, Janet Hurley and Ben Mussett
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