A 1981-build Dassault Falcon 50 has been destroyed by fire, in what local police are describing as “suspicious” circumstances.
Emergency crews were called to Toronto’s Buttonville Airport at 23:30 local time on Thursday February 27th, according to local news website 680news.com.
The aircraft, MSN 38 / N951DJ, was parked at the airport at the time. No injuries were reported.
Local news outlets report that the incident has been referred to the police as suspicious, with images posted on social media showing that hole was cut into the airport fence, and footprints were seen in the snow leading up to the aircraft.
Local police reportedly found a gas (petrol) can close to the scene.
York Regional Police appealed for witnesses to the incident on Twitter, saying that “A jet was intentionally set on fire,” between 23:00 and 00:00 local time.
“On Thursday, February 27th, 2020, at 11:30 p.m., York Regional Police were called to Buttonville Airport, located at 2833 16th Avenue. When officers arrived, they found a Dassault Falcon 50 tri-jet on fire, outside of hangar #5. The fire was extinguished by Markham Fire and there were no injuries.
Investigators believe that the fire was intentionally set,” said a statement on the Police website.
Images posted on Twitter show the entire cabin of the Falcon 50 destroyed from the rear of the cockpit to the end of the cabin. Flight tracking website FlightAware.com shows the last recorded flight for the Falcon 50 was on October 24th, 2019, from White Plains Airport to Buttonville.
According to the AMSTAT fleet database, the Falcon 50 was listed for sale on December 3, 2019, with an asking price of $525,000.
