Investigators say no distress call made in fatal Cessna crash

KELOWNA – The Cessna Citation crash that claimed the life of four people including former Alberta premier Jim Prentice, Dr. Ken Gellatly, pilot Jim Kruk, and one passenger not yet named by Canadian Press, is now in the field phase of the investigation.

Yesterday, Oct. 15, the Transportation Safety Board brought five investigators to the crash site and began this stage of their investigation into the Oct. 13 fatal Cessna Citation crash.

According to a release by the TSB, the plane left Kelowna at 9:32 p.m. and was headed to the Calgary/Springbank Airport. The plane came down and crashed approximately 11 km north of the Kelowna Airport at about 9:40 p.m.

The plane did not have a Cockpit Voice Recorder or a Flight Data Recorder. The team will examine any electronic parts on the aircraft that will help them better understand what happened, the TSB says in the release.

At this stage, they know the pilot made no emergency or distress calls.

The crash site is being controlled by the B.C. Coroners Service, and they are working in conjunction with the TSB.

The cause of the crash is unknown at this time. The TSB stresses that investigations are complex and take time. They remind the public of the importance of not drawing conclusions or speculating on the specific causes because there are usually many factors that contribute to a crash.

– With files from the Canadian Press.

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