Float plane flips over on take off in Tofino, B.C.

The Transportation Safety Board says it's assessing information related to a float plane that flipped over while taking off from Tofino, B.C., on Monday.

Board spokesperson Alexandre Fournier says the float-equipped Cessna A185F "nosed over in shallow water" during take off from the harbour.

Fournier says in an email that the plane from Atleo River Air Services Ltd. had a pilot and four passengers aboard and they were all able to get out and onto a sandbar.

He says they reported minor injuries.

Misty Lawson, a dispatcher with Atleo River Air Services, says the plane hit an "exceptionally large" wake from a boat on take off and became airborne prematurely.

She says the plane then hit a bad angle and tipped over in the shallows of the sandbar.

She says the pilot is highly experienced and the flight had been headed to a community up the coast from Tofino.