The search for a missing plane which left Pitt Meadows en route to Pemberton has come to a fortunate end after snowmobilers spotted the plane on a glacier near Whistler, with all three passengers alive.
According to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC), the single-engine plane was spotted on Sunday by snowmobilers on a glacier about 9 to 10 nautical miles northwest of Callahan Lake in the Pemberton ice field, but were unable to radio out to search and rescue crews at the time.
The plane and its passengers were found at an elevation of around 5,000 feet, a much higher altitude than search and rescue crews had been searching throughout Sunday and into Monday.
All passengers and crew are reported to be alive and suffering from minor dehydration, but otherwise fine. They have now been transported back to Metro Vancouver.
JRCC says they received a tip Monday afternoon from someone who knew one of the snowmobilers who had spotted an aircraft and took a photo of it. Crews flew to the site where they found the missing aircraft.
Passengers had hiked down from the glacier into a river valley, presumably to take shelter, according to Captain Gregory Clarke of the JRCC.
“It’s certainly not the type of outcome you see everyday, so it was wonderful to be able to deliver that kind of news to the families and we were able to bring them back home safely,” said Clarke.
The Beechcraft Musketeer aircraft with three people aboard took off from Pitt Meadows airport, east of Vancouver just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The aircraft was reported missing on Sunday afternoon.
Rescuers were focused on a 100 kilometre section of rugged and remote valley between the northern end of Indian Arm and Pemberton.
With files from Canadian Press