Canadian pilot killed in plane crash at air show

A Canadian pilot was killed after his plane crashed Sunday at the Cold Lake Air Show in Alberta, west Canada.

It appeared to be that pilot Bruce Evans was attempting to perform a loop in his T-28 Trojan aircraft when it went downward. He was seen flying low to the ground, almost vertical, trying to pull up. The weather was clear with some clouds at the time of the incident.

Following the crash, spectators were told to leave and an investigation will be opened.

Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland was at the air show with his family when the accident happened.

"I just saw the small explosion when the plane impacted the ground. He was doing his maneuvers sort of left of us and obviously lost control of his plane and crashed into the tarmac," Copeland said.

Evans, who died at the age of 59, had more than 4,100 hours of flight experience and held an airline transport pilot license. He was born in Marville, France, where his father was stationed with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The Trojan is a propeller driven aircraft that was used to train pilots in the 1950s and 1960s.

The air show, held annually at Canadian Forces Base(CFB) Cold Lake, 290 km northeast of the provincial capital of Edmonton, features premier military pilots from Canada and around the world.

The weekend air show attracted around 20,000 people to Cold Lake. The crash occurred midway through the second afternoon of performances. The remainder of the show was canceled. Endit