A team of investigators are heading to Hope after a Cessna 182 crashed into a rugged, mountainous area northeast of the town last week, killing both onboard.
The investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) will investigate the crash in a steep, mountainous area near the Great Bear Snow Shed along the Coquihalla highway. The board investigates transportation incidents like the Cessna crash to improve transportation safety but it cannot ‘assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability’.
“The aircraft was found in steep alpine terrain. Both occupants were fatally injured. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence,” a July 4 news release stated.
The aircraft took off from Calgary Springs at about 9 p.m. PST June 28, with a route from Kelowna, to Boundary Bay with a plan to land in Nanaimo. At 11 a.m. the electronic locator transmitter on the plane was activated.
The search for the missing Cessna was led by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, out of Victoria, together with Hope, Chilliwack and Princeton search and rescue teams. A Buffalo aircraft and Cormorant helicopter were dispatched from Canadian Forces Base Comox to aid in the search.
Despite heavy cloud cover hampering visibility, by 10 a.m. June 29 the search area was narrowed down to an area around the Great Bear Snow Shed northeast of Hope. The Cessna was found late afternoon June 29, Hope search and rescue manager Mario Levesque confirmed.
The identity of the two onboard the plane have still not been confirmed.
- with files from Ashley Wadhwani
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