Ridge Meadows police investigate plane crash scene from 1953
By Castlegar Source
“Ridge Meadows RCMP followed up on information purporting human remains are still at the site of a 1953 airplane crash that killed all aboard a Canadian Armed Forces plane. The crash site is located on a mountain in the area of Widgeon Creek, and is only accessible by air,” said Cpl. Alanna Dunlop.
“Police checked with the Department of National Defense, and (were told) it was believed that all of the victims of the crash had been recovered. Police had tried to get to the site sooner, but the previous attempts to attend the scene had been unsuccessful due to severe snow cover at the site.
“The local RCMP detachment arranged for the RCMP E Division Air Services helicopter to take them to the site on Sept. 14 to see if there were in fact human remains. The area still has a snow pack covering some of the scene. Investigators combed the area around the plane’s debris, but no evidence of human remains was located.”
Insp. David Fleugel said,”We received information from a group of ‘extreme’ hikers who posted a video on Youtube that suggested some human remains were missed in the original recovery and these were still at the site. With the area being so remote, it took a lot of planning and preparation. We are quite satisfied that the complaint we received was incorrect.”
The lead investigator, Const. Mathew Condon said, “Attending the scene of the crash was obviously a somber experience, considering that five airmen lost their lives at the location. However, we had to make the attempt in order to ensure that none of their remains were still at scene. Thankfully, the report proved false.”
