Two people have died after a small plane crashed in central Alberta, according to the RCMP.
A police spokesperson told Global News on Wednesday that Mounties from the Didsbury RCMP detachment were called to the scene near Township Road 312 and Range Road 285 at 4:51 p.m.
They said the victims were a 69-year-old man and a 65-year-old man. Police said no one else was reported to be on board.
On Thursday, Const. Lauren Mowbray confirmed the 69-year-old pilot was a man from the area, and his passenger was from New Zealand. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
“We do know that the scene was an open farmer’s field and we don’t have an estimate on any damages to the aircraft,” Mowbray said.
The RCMP constable added the flight took off from the Didsbury area on Wednesday morning and was expected to return at 12:30 p.m.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada tweeted Wednesday night that it was “deploying a team of investigators following an accident involving an ultralight aircraft near Didsbury.”
“The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence.”
The RCMP said firefighters were also called to the scene on Wednesday.
At 5:12 p.m. on Wednesday, STARS Air Ambulance tweeted that one of its helicopters had been dispatched to a “scene call emergency” in the Didsbury area.
Didsbury is roughly 80 kilometres north of Calgary.
–with files from Adam Toy, Global News
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