A book that tells the story of a unique tragedy where a plane went missing in 1959 and was discovered six decades later in a remote lake in northern Saskatchewan, was released at the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum.
The aircraft, a Cessna 180 CF-JDO, crashed into Peter Pond Lake in 1959, near Buffalo Narrows in northern Saskatchewan. Investigators say the crash occurred due to bad weather and thick fog. Flight Officer Raymond Gran and Conservation Officer Harold Thompson were on the aircraft when it disappeared.
Victoria Hetherington, author of Into The Mist: Finding CF-JDO said for many years, the huge question in everyone’s minds was where did the missing plane go? She started writing the book in mid-2019 after she became interested in this story when the plane was located on sonar.
“I thought (it) was incredible and I followed the story up until the plane was actually raised,” she said. “When I started this journey, I was so lucky to speak with dozens of people about this story from all walks of life.”
One of those people was Dorrin Wallace, the former president of the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum.
“I was there when the airplane was raised out of the ice … we went through a lot to get it to this point,” said Wallace. “(The journey) is now kind of complete with the fact that we got a (replica) display and the book.”
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A committee was formed in Saskatoon, where they met regularly and worked with Hetherington.
“The family kept the story alive and kept hope that they would find the two men and bring them home,” said Hetherington. “This story describes and honours who these men were and explores the world of northern Saskatchewan and the incredible journey the family undertook to bring (the two men) home.”
The Saskatchewan Aviation Museum hosted the book launch on Aug. 20, their Open Cockpit Day. Attendees heard from guests who were involved in the process of the publishing book, and got up close and personal with the displays, including the CF-JDO replica.
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