Canadian C-130 Dispatched To Locate Overdue Aircraft

A float plane went down Saturday night in eastern Manitoba, fatally injuring the sole occupant, an 81-year old pilot. The plane went down in Lake Kapekun near the Manitoba-Ontario border, according to Captain Jean Houde of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Trenton, Ontario. A C-130 was dispatched from Winnipeg after the plane was reported overdue Saturday night. Two search and rescue personnel parachuted into the crash site early Sunday morning.

The Canadian Press reports Captain Houde saying the SAR personnel found the float plane submerged in the lake with the pilot’s body inside. The man was identified as being from Gimli, Manitoba but no information is available yet as to the cause of the accident. The aircraft reportedly departed from Gimli Saturday morning headed up to a cottage on Lake Kapkun, but the pilot’s friend, who is also a pilot, had flown over the cottage later that day and didn’t see the plane. The friend alerted authorities, who dispatched the C-130. By the time the aircraft was located it was dark, but searchers spotted one of the plane’s floats above the water’s surface.

Captain Houde said the searchers’ night vision goggles were aided by a full moon. After locating the pilot, the rescue personnel spent the night near the crash site. The lake is in a remote area with no road access or suitable landing site for aircraft, so the rescuers had to wait to be hoisted out by a RCMP helicopter the next day.

FMI: www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/menu.htm