Police line on Nicola Ranch (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Marty Hastings

PLANE CRASH

UPDATE: Two people found dead following plane crash near Merritt Airport

Jul 29, 2024 | 10:09 AM

UPDATE (5 p.m.): RCMP confirm two people are dead following a plane crash that took place near Merritt Airport on Sunday (July 28). 

Police responded at about 7 p.m. on Sunday after the report of a crash two about kilometres north of Merritt Airport, east of Highway 5A. 

In a news release issued Monday (July 29) morning, RCMP say the pilot and passenger of a two-seat, homebuilt, amphibious aircraft were found dead at the crash site. 

“The Merritt RCMP is working with the Transportation Safety Board and BC Coroners Service to determine the causal factors of this incident,” RCMP Cpl. James Grandy said in the release. 

Nicola Ranch irrigation foreman Ken Hofmann went to work to start a pump at about 8 p.m. on Sunday and arrived to commotion on the property. 

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“I just kind of drove by and there were way too many cops and ambulances around for me to get nosy,” Hofmann said. “They were just off the highway right over here and were still there when I left at 9 p.m.”

Hofmann guided CFJC Today on Nicola Ranch property on Monday and noted the crash appears to have taken place in or near the Nicola River, which splits the Nicola Ranch and Chutter Ranch properties. 

“This morning, I heard they were taking off [in the plane] and they only made it a couple kilometres and came down right back here somewhere,” Hofmann said, pointing toward a wooded area next to the river. 

“As far as I’ve heard, the plane went down by the river some place.” 

Chutter Ranch owner Dave Chutter said he was told a piece of the aircraft landed on his property, but he had not yet been to visit the site as of early Monday afternoon. 

Police tape cordoned off the entrance to an area on Nicola Ranch property that appeared to lead toward the crash site. 

“Fire trucks and ambulances and four or five police cars — there was a lot of emergency services here,” Hofmann said.  

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Merritt RCMP at (250) 378-4262. 

EARLIER: MERRITT, B.C. — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC) has confirmed that a plane crash took place near Merritt on Sunday (July 28). 

“We are deploying investigators to the scene,” TSBC spokesperson Liam MacDonald told CFJC News on Monday (July 29). 

MacDonald said an amateur-built amphibious aircraft went down one nautical mile northeast of Merritt Airport. 

CFJC Today has reached out to Merritt RCMP and the Merritt Fire Rescue for more information.