A Seneca College flight instructor and two of his students on a training flight were killed when their single-engine plane crashed north of Pickering Thursday night.

Durham police received a call from Pearson airport around 7 p.m. about a flight they had lost radio contact with, Insp. Jamie Grant told reporters gathered near the rural crash site.

A police helicopter searched the area and located the downed plane scattered in several pieces in a farmer's field north of Sideline 24 and Concession 5, near Highway 407, in Whitevale, he said.

“It's devastating,” Grant said, describing the crash scene. “It's just unbelievable how much carnage there is there. It's a sad sight.”

The three victims, a male teacher and two students, one male and the other female, were believed killed instantly.

“We don't know the cause of the crash at this point,” Grant said.

Transport Canada was on scene conducting an investigation, assisted by Durham police.

Police were still trying to confirm the identity of the victims. Two of three of the deceased's families had been notified as of 11 p.m.

“It's really sad to see that . . . three young people have lost their lives in this tragic accident,” Grant said.

About 10 flight school students from Seneca College were at the scene late Thursday night.

One of the young men, who would not give his name, said the instructor who died was very competent. “He was a confident instructor, a very great guy,” the student said.

The plane had been returning to Buttonville Airport when it lost contact with air traffic control.

“They had been cleared to return and land at Buttonville,” Grant said.

Pieces of the single-engine plane, which Grant said he believed was a Beechcraft, were scattered widely over a massive plowed field, he said.

Durham fire services, the police forensic identification unit and the coroner were on scene. Police used all terrain vehicles to navigate through the soft terrain.

It would unlikely be until daylight that police will be able to determine over how wide an area debris from the plane was scattered, Grant said.

There are five Beech F33A models registered to Seneca College in North York. All of the one-engine models are based out of Buttonville airport.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Seneca College has the only aviation technology-based degree in Canada, according to the website of the college, which has a flight program that grants a bachelor of applied technology.

A staff member who answered the phone at Seneca’s Buttonville campus declined to comment until more information is available.