The President of Air Saguenay says he and his staff are reeling following word of a plane crash in Labrador that claimed the lives of at least three people.
Three bodies were located yesterday, and searchers are looking for the remaining four people who were on board the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver that crashed into Mistastin Lake in Labrador on Monday. The effort has been handed over to RCMP as a missing persons case.
Quebec media have identified 61-year-old Gilles Morin as the pilot of the DHC-2 Beaver. Morin was a pilot with Quebec-based Air Saguenay which did work with Three Rivers Lodge based at Crossroads Lake in Labrador.
The fishing lodge employs Newfoundlanders and some Quebecers. Among those on board were the pilot, two guides from the fishing lodge, and four American guests.
Jean Tremblay—who owns the aircraft contracted to Three Rivers Lodge in Labrador—says they’re not sure if the plane crashed on landing or take-off. He says the concern did not set in until the plane failed to return to the base lodge as scheduled Monday evening.
He says the emergency locator transmitter never did go off, and the radio does not work well when the aircraft is on the ground in remote areas. He says when the aircraft failed to return to base camp as scheduled, they engaged their emergency plan.
Tremblay says his staff is shaken by the events, but his pilots all chose to fly this week regardless.