The pilot of a two-seater aircraft that went down in a heavily-forested area near Vernon Monday evening survived the crash and was able to walk away from the scene, say police.
The pilot, the lone occupant of the plane, walked out to meet a waiting ambulance shortly after 8 p.m., said RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk. He was taken to hospital with undetermined injuries.
RCMP, paramedics, and firefighters from Vernon and the Okanagan Indian Band began searching an area near Six Mile Creek Road, off of Westside Rd., after reports of a crash came in around 6:45 p.m.
An eyewitness told authorities he had seen a plane flying low over his house. Several nearby residents heard the plane go down and joined in the search effort, said Molendyk.
Crews on the ground had narrowed the search area to a ravine about nine kilometres northwest of Vernon, but they called-in a pair of aircraft to help with the search effort about an hour later, said Lt. Greg Menzies, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
A Cormorant helicopter and a Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft were dispatched from 91原创 Forces Base Comox at 7:40 p.m. to help, but they were stood down shortly after the Buffalo arrived overhead, said Paul Tasker, a maritime search and rescue coordinator with the JRCC.
Molendyk said police are assisting with an investigation into the crash and further details about the aircraft and pilot are expected Tuesday.
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