Editor's note: This article has been updated since it was first published at 9:04 a.m. July 14 to include the latest information from RCMP.
DIDSBURY - A 69-year-old male pilot from the Didsbury area and a 65-year-old male passenger from New Zealand have been killed in a plane crash outside Didsbury, say police.
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 Wednesday, July 13, police confirmed.
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 Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has taken carriage of the investigation.
Staff Sgt. Browne said TSB will be conducting the investigation into the cause and circumstances of the crash.
TSB issued a tweet Wednesday evening saying it was “deploying a team of investigators following an accident involving an ultralight aircraft near Didsbury, Alberta. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence.”
STARS air ambulance also tweeted at 5:12 p.m. that it was dispatching a helicopter to a scene near Didsbury for an emergency call.
The names of the deceased men have not been released.
