PORT HOPE SIMPSON, N.L. - The pilot of a small, twin-engine plane was killed Sunday when his privately owned aircraft crashed in foggy conditions in southeastern Labrador while en route to pick up someone for a medical evacuation.
The 43-year-old pilot from the Labrador Straits area was the only person aboard, the RCMP said in a statement.
Lt. Al Blondin, a military spokesman for the rescue co-ordination centre in Halifax, said the Britten Norman aircraft was en route from Forteau, N.L., to Port Hope Simpson, N.L., when it went down around 8:30 a.m. local time.
A plume of smoke was spotted about eight kilometres west of Port Hope Simpson soon after the plane was reported missing, he said.
A team of Canadian Rangers, a CC130 Hercules aircraft from Greenwood, N.S., and a CH147 Griffon helicopter from Goose Bay, N.L., were dispatched to the scene.
"A search and rescue team from the Griffon helicopter was hoisted down to the site and confirmed the aircraft as the missing plane," Blondin said. "The pilot was also discovered."
