Aviation investigator at scene of crash; ASI offers condolences

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This article was published 11/01/2012 (5298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A federal aviation crash investigator has arrived at the remote North Spirit Lake First Nation to begin looking into what caused a small plane to crash into a frozen lake killing four people on Tuesday.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the chief investigator assigned to the crash arrived at the community 400 kilometres north of Kenora this morning, while a second is expected to arrive soon.

A twin-engine Piper PA31-250 plane owned by Keystone Air Service crashed at about 10 a.m., during what community residents reported was a blinding blizzard.

The plane burst into flames after the crash, killing the pilot and three passengers, but one of the passengers survived.

Two of the passengers who died were employees of Aboriginal Strategies Inc., a Winnipeg-based native consulting firm, while another was a resident of North Spirit Lake.

The passenger who survived, Brian Shead, also worked for ASI.

Meanwhile, in an emailed statement, Lyndon Olfert, on behalf of the board, management and staff of ASI, mourned the loss of company president Ben van Hoek and accountant Colette Eisinger.

“We grieve together with their families and extend our deepest condolences,” Olfert said in the statement.

“Our sympathies also extend to the family of Martha Campbell and we extend our gratitude to the many North Spirit Lake community members that assisted with the rescue efforts and with communications with our office during this stressful time.

“Many thanks for the overwhelming support that has been communicated to us from our client community, which has become like family to us, and from many other people and businesses with whom we work every day.”

Olfert also expressed condolences to the pilot’s family and to the staff at Keystone Air.