Searchers Find Missing American Cessna

By 250 News

Day seven of the search for a missing American Cessna 185, en route from Fort St. John to Chilliwack, ended with the discovery of the wreckage in a remote area 130-kilometres northeast of Prince George.

Search and Rescue spokesperson, Captain Leah Gillespie, says a tip came forward from the public on Friday about a possible sighting that proved to be unfounded, but Gillespie says that during discussions with the air traffic control tower in Vancouver, they became aware of another "flight track" of interest.

She says a portion of that track was outside the original search grid and led to the discovery of the crash site on a steep slope, in dense bush on Saturday, "Once the Cormorant helicopter got on scene, they hoisted two Search and Rescue technicians down to the site and, unfortunately, the pilot did not survive."

Dead is 77-year-old George Kalmbach from Arizona.  Gillespie says only a weak signal was being emitted from the plane's emergency locater transmitter and it's unlikely it would have been detected had searchers not been pursuing this alternate route.

"All of the searchers were hoping for a positive outcome.  It's always difficult for us when a search ends in tragedy for the family, " says Captain Cam Dutnall, Searchmaster for Comox's 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron.  "Our deepest sympathies go out to the Kalmbach family in their time of grief.  It is my hope that our finding the plane will provide them with some closure."

75 military personnel and 124 civilian volunteers had been involved in the search.

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