It has been six months since a plane carrying four passengers, including former Alberta premier Jim Prentice, crashed north of Kelowna.
READ MORE: Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice killed in BC plane crash
The Cessna C500 (Citation) took off from Kelowna International Airport at 9:32 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19, and crashed just eight minutes later in Winfield, 11 kilometers away. Everyone aboard the plane — Prentice, pilot Jim Kruk, Dr. Ken Gellatly and Sheldon Reid — died.
READ MORE: Jim Prentice’s friends Dr. Ken Gellatly, Sheldon Reid, also killed in BC plane crash
READ MORE: Jim Kruk, ‘avid aviator’, identified as 4th person killed in BC plane crash
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is still in the midst of its investigation and expects it could take up to a year before it concludes.
“These are complex investigations,” a TSB spokesperson told Global News Thursday. “We don’t have a precise timeline.”
What caused the crash has yet to be confirmed.
READ MORE: Light rain, good visibility when plane crashed, killing former Alberta premier Jim Prentice
The TSB won’t comment on its findings before the investigation is complete, as per protocol, but can confirm it hasn’t found any safety issues with the plane that could put the current aviation community at risk.
“The TSB does not wait until its investigation is complete or the final report is published to make important safety information public,” according to the TSB. “Should the investigation team uncover safety deficiencies that present an immediate risk, the board will communicate them without delay.”
There are three phases to the TSB’s investigation: the field (on-site) phase, examination and analysis, and report phase.
The impact of the crash destroyed a fair amount of the plane, as it nose-dived at high-speed, making the on-site investigation a difficult one.
The TSB wrapped up that phase of the investigation six days after the crash.
It revealed there was no flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder onboard the plane, which makes the TSB’s investigation all the more difficult.
Part of the investigation includes trying to reconstruct events leading up to the crash to learn more about what happened. At this point, we know no distress call was made.
READ MORE: TSB officials say no indication of distress call in plane crash that killed Jim Prentice
The plane was sent to a TSB laboratory in Ottawa for further analysis.
The TSB is also looking at drone footage from the scene, examining aircraft maintenance records and looking at the pilot’s “training, qualifications, proficiency records and medical history,” as part of its investigation.
WATCH: Extensive coverage of the plane crash that took four lives, including that of Jim Prentice.
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Remembering Former Premier Jim Prentice -
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Former Premier Jim Prentice and 3 other men die in plane crash -
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Plans underway for Prentice state funeral and public condolence. -
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Jim Prentice honoured at Calgary Flames’ home opener -
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Plane crash kills former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice and three others. -
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Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice killed in plane crash near Kelowna -
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Duane Bratt joins us in the studio to talk about Jim Prentice -
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Jim Prentice remembered and respected by people across political lines -
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Friends and colleagues mourn Jim Prentice -
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Global’s special coverage following the death of former Alberta premier Jim Prentice in a plane crash Thursday night. -
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A look back at one of Jim Prentice’s final moments as a politician -
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‘A heck of a good guy’: Former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel following Jim Prentice’s death -
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Plane crash near Kelowna kills former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice -
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‘We can dream more than we have dreamt’: A look back at Jim Prentice’s political legacy in Alberta -
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The cause of the small plane crash that killed Jim Prentice still unclear -
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‘Prentice was a wonderful man’: Alison Redford on the death of Jim Prentice -
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‘He deeply loved Alberta’: Premier Rachel Notley gives condolences following death of Jim Prentice -
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‘I’ve admired him for a long time’: Mayor Nenshi on the passing of Jim Prentice -
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Aerial view of plane crash site that killed 4, including former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice
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