MONTREAL – A 45-year-old man is missing after a small plane attempted to land on a stretch of ice on the Broadback River, south of James Bay, Saturday night.
The ice gave way and only two of the three occupants were able to reach shore.
The Cessna took off from the Senneterre airport in Quebec’s Abitibi region early Saturday morning. The trio were headed to a hunting camp on the Broadback River.
According to Sgt. Daniel Thibodeau with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the pilot’s family became worried Saturday evening when they were unable to contact him.
The family then reached out to another pilot who flew over the hunting camp and noticed two men on the shore of the river.
The pilot was unable to land and rescue the pair but he was able to drop a satellite phone.
The two men, the pilot of the Cessna and one of the passengers, were then able to call for help.
At around 7 p.m., the SQ in Matagami dispatched a helicopter and the men, both in their 50s, were taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.
SQ divers are on their way to the site of the crash to search the river for the missing passenger.
The investigation continues.