Barenaked Ladies singer, 3 others survive plane crash
Last Updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 | 8:07 AM ET
CBC News
Ed Robertson from the Barenaked Ladies received his pilot's licence in 2005 and hosts a TV show called Ed's Up, documenting his travels by plane. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)Barenaked Ladies singer Ed Robertson and three others walked away from a plane crash Sunday afternoon in southeastern Ontario, police said Monday.
Robertson's Cessna 206 float plane crashed into a wooded area near Baptiste Lake, north of Bancroft, early Sunday afternoon while trying to land, said Const. Tracey McDonald of the Bancroft OPP.
The singer's friend Gord Peel told the Belleville Intelligencer newspaper that the other passengers were Robertson's wife, Natalie, and their friends Julie and Jeff Jones.
Peel arrived on the scene shortly after the crash and found the four friends walking on a road, shaken but unharmed.
The plane stalled, but Robertson managed to set it straight down into the trees with its nose resting on the ground, Peel said. They escaped without a scratch through the windows, he said.
Band spokesman Adam Smith told the Intelligencer: "Everyone is fine, and that is the important thing."
Robertson received his pilot's licence in 2005 and hosts a TV show called Ed's Up, documenting his travels by plane.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is on site to determine whether an investigation will be launched, spokeswoman Julie Leroux said Monday.
It is the second time this summer that a member of the Canadian band has been in the news. Singer Steven Page made headlines when he was arrested in upstate New York and charged with possession of a controlled substance on July 11.
Court documents allege Page admitted to snorting cocaine in his girlfriend's apartment. Page was taken into police custody, but was later released after posting $10,000 US bail. If convicted, he faces up to 5½ years in prison.
With files from the Canadian Press
