On July 9, 2009, a Piper Navajo operated by Canadian Air Charters crashed while on approach to Vancouver International Airport, claiming the lives of the two pilots on board. The pilots have been identified by the company as Mathew Douglas Pedersen, 23, and Jeremy Ryan Sunderland, 28. Their names were made public by Darcy Coonfer, chief pilot of Canadian Air Charters, on behalf of the pilots' families.The aircraft impacted the ground near a shopping center, about four kilometers short of the Vancouver runway. The aircraft was destroyed by the crash and a post crash fire. No one on the ground was injured.
An article about the two pilots on the CTV.ca web site said that Sunderland had been working for Canadian Air Charters for three years, while Pedersen had been at the firm for over a year.
"They will be missed greatly," said Mark Wilcox, an operations manager with Canadian Air Charters.
At the time of the accident, the aircraft was en route from Victoria, BC to Vancouver, BC. According to news reports, Canadian Blood Services had chartered the cargo plane and it was carrying 143 units of donated blood.
Canada's Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the accident.
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