WATCH ABOVE: A man from Chestermere has been killed after the small plane he was flying crashed in Montana.
CALGARY – A Chestermere man was killed on Thursday after the small plane he was piloting crashed in Montana.
The pilot’s wife, who is also from the southern Alberta city, survived the crash.
Meagher County Sheriff Jon Lopp has identified the pilot who was killed as David Charron. His wife Vallery Charron was taken to hospital with unknown injuries.
The Piper Saratoga aircraft they were travelling in left Great Falls International Airport en route to Helena, but crashed at Hidden Lake near the Big Belt Mountains.
Vallery called 911, telling the dispatcher she was involved in a plane crash but didn’t know her location.
A Black Hawk helicopter from a nearby air force base was called in to assist in the recovery effort.
Allen Kenitzer with the Federal Aviation Administration tells Global News it’s unknown why the plane crashed.
Dwight Holman of Holman Aviation, a hangar at Great Falls International Airport, said the couple stopped by to clear customs and fill up on gas around 11:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Holman said the place they crashed at Hidden Lake is between 30 and 50 minutes from his hangar.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating, although the NTSB is leading the investigation.
David Charron was a project manager at Xtreme Coil Drilling Corp. in Calgary.
His brother tells Global News that Vallery is in hospital in stable condition. They’re hoping to move her back to Calgary within the next few days.
Chestermere Mayor Patricia Matthews says she was extremely sad to hear of the crash.
“Our community is tight-knit, and we do an excellent job of making sure that we get to know one another as neighbours… and I’m sure that it’s not only this family that is going to suffer this loss, but it’s going to be everybody within Chesteremere.”
“Not only are we here to support you, but we’ll be here to make sure that you get through this okay,” she added. “Because Chestermere is one of those communities that comes together in the time of a crisis, I know that we will step up and do what needs to be done to help support this family at this time.”
With files from Lisa MacGregor
Comments