By Pete McIntyre / Beach Radio Vernon

Plane missing for 30 years found near Clearwater

Oct 10, 2018 | 3:22 PM

CLEARWATER, B.C. — A small plane missing since 1987 has been found in the BC Interior — by accident.

RCMP say the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre was conducting a search for a missing aircraft from Stony Plain, Alberta on September 18, when they came across another crash site near Kostal Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says the preliminary investigation indicates it’s a missing plane from Salmon Arm.

“The white Piper Super Cub plane left Eagle Bay for a fishing trip to McDougall Lake on June 20, 1987. The plane with two souls on board, pilot Ernie G. Whitehead, 78 yrs old at the time, was accompanied by passenger Len Dykhuizen, 55 yrs old. Both men were from Eagle Bay, BC. Extensive searches for this plane had yielded negative results,” says Moskaluk.

Moskaluk says efforts by RCMP, the BC Coroners Service and local Search and Rescue technicians to fly into the crash site have so far not been successful.

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“The search is set to resume in the spring. This area is very remote and there are no roads or trails to access the crash site.”

The families of the two men had been advised of the discovery, says Sgt. Grant Simpson of Clearwater RCMP.