A nearly 8-hour search for a small plane that went missing in south-central Ontario has ended with the discovery of the plane in Algonquin Park with two deceased men inside it.
The pilot was a 25-year-old man from India, and the passenger is also believed to be in his 20s and not from Canada.
The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 150 was found around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday about 20 kilometres south of Whitney on a small hill. The difficult terrain is not accessible by car and a rescue helicopter was also unable to land there. The rescue team hoisted a technician down to the ground, and that’s when the two bodies were discovered.
The Cessna lost contact with regional air traffic controllers above a dense, heavily wooded area near Haliburton shortly after the “disoriented” pilot had declared an airborne emergency around 8:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Alexandre Cadieux, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.
The pilot was concerned about his ability to fly in inclement weather and feared he would not be able to find a suitable landing site before he ran out of fuel, Cadieux told CP24.
The JRCC launched a Hercules aircraft and a Griffon helicopter to search for the single-engine, two-seater plane, and the Ontario Provincial Police began a search on the ground.
“The Hercules picked up on a ELT signal, an Emergency Locator Transmitter beacon, which narrowed down the search to the vicinity of Algonquin Park and allowed the Griffin to move in closer,” Cadieux said.
Capt. Jean Houde, also from the JRCC, told CP24 that the two rescue vehicles were dispatched as soon as they learned that the pilot was lost with the hopes that they could direct him toward the airport in Trenton.
12/11/14 Vidya Kauri/CP24.com
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The pilot was a 25-year-old man from India, and the passenger is also believed to be in his 20s and not from Canada.
The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 150 was found around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday about 20 kilometres south of Whitney on a small hill. The difficult terrain is not accessible by car and a rescue helicopter was also unable to land there. The rescue team hoisted a technician down to the ground, and that’s when the two bodies were discovered.
The Cessna lost contact with regional air traffic controllers above a dense, heavily wooded area near Haliburton shortly after the “disoriented” pilot had declared an airborne emergency around 8:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Alexandre Cadieux, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.
The pilot was concerned about his ability to fly in inclement weather and feared he would not be able to find a suitable landing site before he ran out of fuel, Cadieux told CP24.
The JRCC launched a Hercules aircraft and a Griffon helicopter to search for the single-engine, two-seater plane, and the Ontario Provincial Police began a search on the ground.
“The Hercules picked up on a ELT signal, an Emergency Locator Transmitter beacon, which narrowed down the search to the vicinity of Algonquin Park and allowed the Griffin to move in closer,” Cadieux said.
Capt. Jean Houde, also from the JRCC, told CP24 that the two rescue vehicles were dispatched as soon as they learned that the pilot was lost with the hopes that they could direct him toward the airport in Trenton.
12/11/14 Vidya Kauri/CP24.com
