After five days of searching, search and rescue personnel have located the wreckage of a missing Cessna Caravan with two people aboard in remote northwestern Ontario, with both occupants found dead.
Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Trenton, a division of the Department of National Defence, began the search with a RCAF aircraft and a civilian aircraft that afternoon. On March 1, the search was upgraded to a major search and rescue operation.
The aircraft was found just south of Chaucer Lake by a CASARA Cessna Skymaster aircraft. RCAF search and rescue officials were deployed minutes later from an RCAF CH-146 Griffon helicopter.
According to JRCC Trenton, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Transport Canada have been advised of the discovery and the Transportation Safety Board will be launching an investigation into the cause of the crash.
He thanked local communities and those who provided search tips, adding that members of the RCAF, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Canadian Coast Guard, OPP, Webequie First Nation, Canadian Rangers, and CASARA volunteers had expended “tireless efforts” to find the plane.
At the height of the search, five RCAF aircraft, two CASARA aircraft flown by volunteers, and three helicopters were searching for the missing plane, along with 60 searchers from these organizations.