One dead, one injured after plane crashes into river near Jasper, Alta.

JASPER, Alta. — One person has died and another was taken to hospital after a small plane crashed into a river in western Alberta.

RCMP Const. Shelley Nasheim says the aircraft was attempting to take off from an airstrip near Jasper on Sunday afternoon when it crashed into a nearby river.

Nasheim says it appears there were only two people on board.

Alberta Health Services spokeswoman Amy Crofts confirms one of the plane’s occupants was pronounced dead, while the second was transported to hospital in critical condition.

Police say in a news release that the person who died was a 31-year-old man who was a passenger in the plane.

They say the male pilot is in serious but stable condition and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Edmonton for treatment.

Police say the Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation of the crash.

The Canadian Press