A B.C. aircraft and pilot missing for more than 24 hours was spotted late Friday night near Dease Lake, approximately 970 km northwest of Prince George.
The recreational pilot, in his mid-’60s, had to “stop along his route to refuel, but mechanical problems kept him from taking off again,” Air Force 19 Wing Comox said in a press release Saturday.
The pilot had filed a flight itinerary with his son indicating he was planning to fly from 108 Mile Lake, near Williams Lake, to Swan Lake near the B.C.-Yukon border,
When his son hadn’t heard from his father 24 hours past his arrival time, he immediately alerted the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC).
A crew from the 19 Wing Comox, based on Vancouver Island, retraced the missing pilot’s flight path, Capt. Alexandre Cadieux said in the release.
They determined the pilot was last seen on Lake Takla, “which significantly reduced the search area.”
Around 10 p.m. Friday, crew members spotted a small camp fire. When they approached to investigate, the pilot began signalling for help.
Cadieux said “the fire grew in intensity and started to produce more smoke,” so the search crew dropped the pilot a hand held radio.
“The pilot was clearly ready to handle an emergency,” said Capt. John Edwards. “Once he determined that he would not be able to take off again, he tied his plane to the shore, put up a tent that he had with him and started a fire. He also had a rifle in his possession since, as he told us, a bear had been roaming the area.
“The pilot was prepared to face this incident and had all the necessary tools to wait for our arrival.”
The search crew dropped the pilot additional food.
As the pilot had not sustained any injury and he was fit to stay the night, the search crew requested a repair crew to meet the pilot on Saturday.
“The pilot did many right things during this incident,” said Capt. Greg Clarke, Air Controller at JRCC. “But if it was to happen again, I would recommend to the pilot to file a more detailed flight itinerary and to utilize his Electronic Locator Transmitter which would have accelerated the start of the search and greatly reduced the time to locate him.”
The JRCC confirmed Saturday that the pilot managed to repair his aircraft and continued to the B.C.-Yukon border where he was intended to meet his son for a hunting and guiding trip.
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