Engine failure led to small plane crash in Toronto: Transportation Safety Board
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TORONTO – Engine failure is to blame for the small plane crash in Toronto that dodged a Monday evening sports game and left minor damage to the area, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said.
The Piper Cherokee aircraft was headed to Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport from Orillia, Ont., when it experienced an engine failure and crash landed in a field in the city’s east end just after 8 p.m., the safety board said Tuesday.
Two passengers and one pilot were aboard the plane that landed just metres away from the goal on a sports pitch at Monarch Park Collegiate Institute.
No one was injured in the crash, according to emergency officials in Toronto.
Aviation rental company Flight Club said the crash involved one of their Piper PA-28-140 aircraft and that the pilot rented the plane through their platform.
The four-passenger plane had to make a “forced approach” near the high school, a company spokesperson said, adding that the engine was not operating at the time.
“This forced approach was executed with great precision and focus to have such a result over such a densely populated area,” Flight Club co-founder Ehsan Monfared wrote in a statement.
The exact cause of the engine failure is something that will be revealed in Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s investigation, with the company citing many different possibilities, such as mechanical or human error or fuel contamination.
“We’re grateful that there were no fatalities or injuries resulting from this,” said Monfared, adding that the company is co-operating with authorities and hopes to implement additional safety measures.
Photos of the downed plane show the single-engine aircraft in one piece, but angled nose-down on pavement. A mangled chain link fence is seen beneath the nose of the plane, with yellow caution tape cordoning off the site of the crash from the nearby soccer pitch’s entrance.
Classes at Monarch Park Collegiate Institute continued as normal Tuesday, according to the Toronto District School Board, despite the proximity of the damaged plane.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says they were on scene Monday night assessing the crash site and have started investigating by interviewing witnesses and those involved.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.