Pilot doing survey work dies in crash in remote northern Alberta lake

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Authorities in northern Alberta say a pilot is dead after a plane was found upside-down in a lake.

John Lee of the Transportation Safety Board says the single-engine Cessna 185 left the airport in Fort McMurray on Friday for a trip that was supposed to be a short flight to a remote lake south of the city.

Lee says the amphibious plane was privately registered but the purpose of the flight was to conduct survey work in the region.

He says the first indication of trouble came from a helicopter pilot who flew over the lake and spotted the partially-submerged aircraft.

Rescue personnel from Cold Lake, Alta., recovered the body of the pilot who RCMP say was the only occupant.

An RCMP dive team, meanwhile, has also been sent to search for the pilot of a DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter that was located in water Friday near Ivanhoe Lake, N.W.T.