Search for missing Alberta aircraft in B.C. leads RCMP to plane crash site from 1987

CLEARWATER – A plane missing for over three decades has been found in Wells Grey Provincial Park by search crews looking for a different missing aircraft.

RCMP say members the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre spotted the crash site near Kostal Lake in Wells Grey Provincial Park on Sept. 18 while searching for a plane missing from Stoney Plain, Alberta.

The early stages of the RCMP investigation suggests the missing plane is the white Piper Super Cub that went missing on June 20, 1987 after taking off from Eagle Bay near Salmon Arm bound for McDougall Lake for a fishing trip.

The plane was piloted by Ernie G. Whitehead, 78, and Len Dykhuzien, 55, was his passenger. Both men were from Eagle Bay and extensive searches by police at the time yielded negative results, according to an RCMP media release.

Clearwater RCMP have been working with the B.C. Coroners Service, and local search and rescue technicians at the crash site but the weather has been hampering search efforts.

“This area is very remote and there are no roads or trails to access the crash site. The families of both occupants had been advised of the discovery and are aware of the ongoing efforts," Sgt. Grant Simpson says in the release.

Police say the search for the crash site will resume in the spring.

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