Friends remember Bristol man killed in B.C. plane crash

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By Bryan Tait

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A plane crash 5,000 kilometres away seems all to close to home for a Carleton County community.

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Kyle Adams

Kyle Adams, originally of Bristol, was one of seven people killed Sunday when a Grumman Goose seaplane went down on Thormanby Island, off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast on Nov. 16. Adams, 29, was a maintenance engineer with Peter Kiewet Sons Co.

Adams was part of a construction crew travelling to a hydroelectric project in B.C.'s Toba Inlet, 160 kilometres north of Vancouver. The plane crashed into a mountainside on the island approximately 20 minutes after takeoff from Vancouver International Airport.

Adams' parents still live in Florenceville-Bristol. His father Bill was a former vice president of operations for McCain Foods Canada.

Iain Dunlop, Adams' former basketball coach at Carleton North High School, described him as the kind of person everyone loved.

"Those are rare," Dunlop said. "He was a fine young man with a heart of gold."

Dunlop, a self-described train enthusiast, recalled a gift Adams gave him – a miniature train station.

"I told his mother when I went to the house ‘You don't have to worry the station's still there,'" Dunlop said.

Dunlop remembered his former player as a team leader. "He was a young man the other boys looked up to," Dunlop said. "He was just an excellent role model."

Corey Sarchfield was a friend and teammate of Adams, and remembered his friend as a gentle soul, liked by everyone.

"He was your typical Carleton County guy," Sarchfield said. "I don't think you'd find anybody around who wouldn't have something good to say about Kyle."

Adams' reputation as a nice guy even followed him to the basketball court.

Sarchfield remembered him as one of the most sportsmanlike players you'd seen.

"You loved to play with him and you loved to play against him," Sarchfield said.

Ben Doherty, who grew up with Adams, and recalled their first meeting.

"In Grade 1 Kyle was so shy that he wouldn't speak to anyone," Doherty said.

"I just kept talking to him until one day he started talking back."

Doherty said his friend was always there for him after that, helping with school work, lending some money for a date, and being there when Doherty's brother died.

"I cannot list all of the times the man helped me out as we grew up," Doherty said. "I would not have made it through those days without him."

Sarchfield had similar memories of Adams.

"He'd give you the shirt off his back," Sarchfield said. "And if he didn't have one he'd find one."

"Why do you remember people?" Dunlop asked. "You remember them because they were good people."

Doherty said Adams was a person who stood for what he believed, and was always willing to lend a hand.

"Even if it meant getting covered in cow manure and dragged through the pasture by the bull," Doherty said.

Doherty said university and careers pulled he and Adams apart, but they got together when they could.

"It was like we'd never been apart."

Dunlop said Adams always had a big smile when you saw him.

"He'd light up a room," Dunlop said.

Dunlop lamented Adams' unfilled dreams.

"At my age it's been to a certain extent a life fulfilled," Dunlop said. "He had lots more on his agenda."

It's still not clear what caused the crash. One possibility raised by the Transportation Safety Board is the plane may have been flying below the minimum required altitude.

The investigation is continuing.