DIDSBURY - The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) investigation into an ultra-light plane crash outside Didsbury on July 13 that took the lives of two men is continuing this week, officials said Monday.
“The investigation team has gathered information, data and conducted interviews while deployed. The next step will be to classify the event in accordance with the TSB policy on occurrence classification,” spokesperson Alexandre Fournier told the Albertan.
A 69-year-old male pilot from the Didsbury area and a 65-year-old male passenger from New Zealand were found dead on scene.
The men were the occupants of an ultralight aircraft that crashed in a farmer’s field near Twp. Rd. 312 and Rge. Rd. 285 in Mountain View County mid-day.
Didsbury RCMP Staff Sgt. Stephen Browne said the wreckage was found by family members who began a search for the aircraft after it did not return to a private airstrip in the county as expected between noon and 12:30 p.m.
Family members called police at 4:50 p.m., and emergency crews arrived at the field soon thereafter, where they found the men deceased on scene, he said.
The TSB is conducting the investigation into the cause and circumstances of the crash.
Police have not released the names of the deceased men.