by Flavio Nienow
Burns Lake and Anahim Lake RCMP detachments coordinated a multi-agency response to a plane crash southwest of Vanderhoof on Thanksgiving Day.
One of five male occupants died in the crash, which involved a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft.
The plane had taken off from the Vanderhoof airport at around 9 a.m. on Oct. 10 destined for Laidman Lake, approximately a 30-minute flight from Vanderhoof. The crash was called in by one of the survivors from a cellphone at approximately 9:25 a.m.
The crash location was confirmed as being 120 km southwest of Vanderhoof, near the NuGold Mine area.
All four survivors were extracted from the crash site in rescue baskets lowered from a helicopter. Vanderhoof search and rescue (SAR) technicians were able to land near the site and able to extricate the body of the deceased pilot from the wreckage.
"The man's body was transported out of the site by the Vanderhoof SAR team on behalf of the B.C. Coroners Services," stated Cpl. Dan Moskaluk, a spokesperson for the RCMP.
All of the survivors were transported to Anahim Lake, where three were then flown to the Lower Mainland and one to Kamloops, all via a medevac aircraft.
The Burns Lake and Anahim Lake RCMP are continuing to assist the B.C. Coroners Services and the Transportation Safety Board with their investigation into the crash and the man's death.