A member of the Transportation Safety Board inspects the wreckage of a plane at a crash site in Montreal on Oct. 3, 2021. The small plane crashed on Ile Sainte-Helene near Montreal’s Old Port on Saturday.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board says the plane at the centre of a deadly crash in old Montreal was carrying a banner spelling out a wedding proposal when it went down on Saturday evening.
Board spokesman Chris Krepski says a passenger on board the plane towing the banner that read “will you marry me” died in the crash, while the aircraft’s pilot remains in hospital.
The crash took place at roughly 6 p.m. at Park Dieppe near the Concorde Bridge of Montreal’s Ile Sainte-Helene where a music festival was taking place.
Krepski says officials received reports of engine trouble on the Cessna 172 aircraft, but investigators have yet to determine the cause of the accident.
Krepski says the proposal banner, which is believed to have fallen into the St-Lawrence river shortly before the crash, hasn’t been found.
The board dispatched investigators to the scene to gather details on the cause of the crash and will be sending the remaining debris to an Ottawa lab to continue testing today.
Event producer and promoter Evenko issued a tweet on Saturday night confirming that no activity on the site of the popular Osheaga festival, which was taking place not too far from the scene of the crash, was affected.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.