Six persons are lifeless after a small airplane crashed Friday night time within the mountains west of Calgary.
RCMP mentioned 5 passengers and one pilot had been onboard the plane, which left Springbank Airport close to Calgary round 9 p.m. MT en path to Salmon Arm, B.C., for a church perform.
RCMP Employees Sgt. Ryan Singleton mentioned that kin misplaced contact with passengers on the airplane round 9:30 p.m. Hours later, the airplane was reported overdue, prompting a Winnipeg-based Royal Canadian Air Drive (RCAF) squadron to conduct a search.
With assist from Alberta Parks Mountain Rescue, the squadron searched the crash website for survivors, however none had been discovered. All six individuals within the airplane died, Singleton mentioned.
The identities of the victims weren’t launched.
“On behalf of the Alberta RCMP, I wish to lengthen my deepest condolences to the households of these onboard the plane,” Singleton advised reporters at a information convention.
Kananaskis Emergency Service, Alberta Well being Service and different businesses responded to the crash, the place crews navigated tough terrain to get better the our bodies. The Coronary heart Creek Day Use Space was closed to the general public, as crews used it as a staging space.
Mike Koppang, a mountain rescue specialist with Kananaskis Nation, mentioned crews had been on the scene for many of Saturday morning and the early hours of the afternoon.
“Sadly, it wasn’t the end result we might have favored to see,” he mentioned.
Koppang mentioned that climate circumstances Friday night time within the space had been cloudy, with low-lying clouds within the Kananaskis area.
“We’re nonetheless making an attempt to determine precisely what we noticed for climate final night time,” Koppang mentioned.
The Transportation Security Board of Canada is investigating the crash, which they are saying concerned a Piper PA32 plane.
The reason for the crash stays below investigation.