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Plane at centre of deadly crash in Montreal was carrying marriage proposal banner

Oct 3, 2021 | 3:05 PM

MONTREAL — 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-Hélène 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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 3, 2021. 

The Canadian Press