Vernon

Gord Storey was one of many Vernon residents who witnessed Saturday's horrific plane crash which claimed the life of two people. He saw many people try desperately to do something to help those trapped inside, but the flames proved too much.

"I didn't hear a crash, which is odd because I live near the airport," says Storey. "I just looked out the window and saw a huge ball of flame and smoke erupt at the soccer field."

Storey ran back into the house and grabbed his video camera and shot the video seen above.

"I couldn't tell what is what at first, but it wasn't too long before I decided it was an airplane. It looked odd. I couldn't see a fuselage and I thought it might have been an ultra-lite, but the amount of fuel burning off was pretty intense."

Storey admits he was surprised how long it took for emergency crews to arrive. He estimates it took about 10 minutes. "The response time was really slow in my mind."

However, due to the nature of crash, he admits there wasn't much that could be done.

"There's nothing the fire department could have done for the people in the plane. If they had of been sitting there when it happened they couldn't have helped really."

Everyone who witnessed the crash, including Storey, agrees it could have been a lot worse.

"If the plane had gone to the right instead of the left it would have crashed into a densely populated mobile home park. On the weekend that field is usually full of people. I looked down and saw the big ball of flame and smoke and people were running away from it," says Storey.

"Everybody got 50-60 feet away and everyone started turning around and running back and people started pulling in off the street with fire extinguishers trying, but it was just an inferno. There was nothing anyone could do. It's very lucky. That facility is heavily used"

The BC Coroners Service continues to investigate.