2018-06-30
Update:
It has now been confirmed that two people are confirmed dead as a result of a plane crash that occurred about 30 kilometers northeast of Hope B.C.
Ken Umbach, a geophysicist from Calgary along with his passenger have both been pronounced dead. (The passenger’s name has not yet been released)
“This case has been passed to the B.C. Coroner’s Service and B.C. RCMP,” the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) in Victoria said in a statement. “The JRCC’s thoughts are with the loved ones of the two individuals who were aboard the aircraft.”
Our Original Post:
Bad weather is hampering the search for a retired Calgary geophysicist and a friend missing on a flight from Kelowna to Nanaimo. Searchers have a good fix on the 406 Mhz emergency locator transmitter signal that was received at the joint rescue coordination centre in Victoria. “Last night we detected a 406 Megahertz emergency locator transmitter and, because it was registered with the Canadian beacon registry, we were able to figure out very quickly which aircraft it was on and that the aircraft was on a flight plan from the Calgary area to Kelowna,”
Major Justin Olsen told CTV. ”We’ve been trying to get into the area where the beacon was detected ever since but the weather has been such that the helicopter and the Buffalo have not been able to actually put eyes on the search area.” The signal came from a rugged area between Merritt and Hope and the search area has been narrowed down by the ELT signal to just two square kilometres.
The pilot and owner of the Cessna 182 has been identified as Ken Umbach.
The flight originated at Springbank Airport in Calgary and the aircraft stopped in Kelowna. He and his passenger were headed to Vancouver Island for a fishing trip.