Four people have died in a plane crash in southwestern Manitoba.
RCMP were notified of the overdue Cessna 210 aircraft at about 6 p.m. on Sunday and a search was quickly launched. The plane was located near Waskada with the help of Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians shortly thereafter.
A local pilot, 37, his two sons, aged 9 and 10, and one of his sons’ friends, 9, were killed in the crash, according to RCMP. All four were Waskada-area residents and located within the aircraft.
The plane was travelling from Waskada to Brandon and departed at 1 p.m. It was reported overdue at 3 p.m. by someone who was aware of the plane’s flight indicator plan filed prior to takeoff.
The Transportation Safety Board has been dispatched to the area and say freezing fog, mist and light snow were present at the time of the crash. The aircraft’s older-style emergency locator hindered an earlier rescue effort, with crews not arriving to the scene until about 6:35 p.m.
Pieces of the aircraft, originally built in 1963 and with a 300-horsepower engine, were strewn about the open area vicinity where it crashed and not in one central location, according to the TSB’s Peter Hildebrand.
The TSB will now examine the flight’s maintenance records, which arrived at the agency’s Winnipeg office by Monday afternoon.
There were three airplane crashes in Manitoba in 2012, resulting in four fatalities.
Waskada, with a population of about 200, is located 330 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
Updated at 3:30 p.m. / ChrisD.ca video
