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Pilot walks away from downed plane Paul Bickford Northern News Services Published Monday, September 26, 2011
The Cessna 206 went missing Friday morning on a flight from Fort Simpson to a bush camp southwest of Wrigley. The downed aircraft was located, still intact, Friday afternoon in a mountainous area north of the camp, which is located about 105 km southwest of Wrigley. However, the pilot - the lone occupant of the aircraft - was nowhere to be seen. The pilot was located just after 5 p.m. by a search helicopter. It is believed the man was trying to walk to the camp from the site where the plane went down, according to Capt. Tanya Coates of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre with the Canadian Armed Forces in Trenton, Ont. "The location is near where the camp is that he was trying to get to, within about 13 miles of it," said Coates. According to the RCMP, the pilot was transported to Fort Simpson to be checked at the health centre. The police report it does not appear the man suffered any serious injuries. Coates did not have details about the condition of the wheeled plane or the cause of it going down, noting it could have been a precautionary landing without a suitable runway. The aircraft is owned by Wolverine Air Ltd. of Fort Simpson. The first satellite detection of an emergency locator beacon from the plane was at about 10 a.m. on Friday. The plane had left Fort Simpson at about 9:05 a.m. and was due at the camp at approximately 10:30 a.m. Weather conditions at the time included snow and a low ceiling. Coates noted there had been no radio contact with the aircraft after it went missing. A Canadian Forces Hercules dispatched from Winnipeg participated in the search for about 30 minutes before the pilot was located.
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