Fatal Occurrence 2009P0557
Missing elderly pilot found dead after four-day search in the Kootenays
The man, whose name has not been released, was scheduled to travel from Cranbrook, B.C., to Kelowna but never arrived.
Dave Bowes with the Victoria Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says the man's cell phone provider was able to direct searchers to the crash location by tracking the phone's signal.
"We were able to ping the phone and we were able to get a distance, a very accurate distance, and that really narrowed and focused our search efforts," he said.
Bowes called the area where the aircraft was found mountainous and heavily treed.
He said search and rescue crews had scoured the area at least a dozen times but weren't able to spot the aircraft until after a snow melt.
Bowes said it's believed that the pilot died on impact.
He said it's too early to know what caused the crash, but Bowes said he'd be surprised if heavy snowfall didn't play a factor.
Crews were working Sunday night to pull the man's body from the wreckage.
