Medical incident caused Hamilton airport crash into pond of de-icing liquid
Hamilton police say a crash at John C. Munro Airport on the weekend happened when a Cargojet van driver, shuttling pilots on the tarmac, suffered a major cardiac episode and crashed into a pond of de-icing liquid.
The 52-year-old driver later died in hospital from the heart attack and the four pilots suffered minor injuries, said Det. Const. Wes Wilson of the collision reconstruction unit.
Emergency services were called to the airport for the single-vehicle collision around 2:15 a.m. April 23.
The van crashed through a fence and into a glycol pond that is 80 metres by 40 metres, Wilson said. It came to rest in about six feet of the liquid used to de-ice planes.
When police arrived, the passengers had already escaped but had been unable to get to the driver. Patrol officers waded into the liquid and pulled the driver from the vehicle. All five were taken to hospital, where the 52-year-old died.
Wilson said those impacted, including the patrol officers who removed the driver, were instructed to wash the glycol off their bodies, but the contact didn't cause any medical concerns.
Three of the injured pilots were treated in hospital and released the same day and the fourth has also since been released from hospital.
All five were employees of Cargojet.
They're still processing it," Pauline Dhillon, chief corporate officer at Cargojet, told The Spectator Tuesday about the surviving employees.
We've just been trying to give them space and be sensitive to them."
The federal Labour Program, under Employment and Social Development Canada, was also called to investigate the workplace incident because airports are federally regulated.
Hamilton police say the incident is considered a sudden death and not a traffic fatality.
According to environmental management information posted on the airport website, during winter months de-icing fluid is applied to the exterior of planes on de-icing pads. Excess glycol is collected and removed off site through a waste management contractor.
Glycol may also be absorbed into snow that is pushed into piling areas that drain into holding ponds, which are regularly tested. When admissible, water from ponds is diverted to sanitary systems or creeks.
The airport says it uses propylene glycol, which is biodegradable and has a relatively low toxicity to mammals."
Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com