A local pilot is dead after a plane crashed during an air show at the Smith Fall Fair Aug. 31.
An RCMP press release states two small planes were conducting aerobatic manoeuvres when one of the planes disappeared east of Smith.
Police and emergency services received a call regarding a small plane crash around 12:30 p.m., according to RCMP Const. Chantelle Kelly with media relations. Speaking in a phone interview, she said the air show had started around noon, and it took police about one hour to find the plane.
“There was only one occupant in the plane at the time of the crash and (he) was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the release continued. Kelly said the occupant was a male in his 40s.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased at this time,” the RCMP release states. “The name of the deceased will not be released.”
According to the Canadian Press, Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Alex Fournier said the plane was a Nanchang CJ-6, a propeller-driven training aircraft built in China.
Barry Pendrak Airshows conducted the air show at the Smith fair. Barry Pendrak’s son Marty flew the Nanchang, which was built in 1965, imported into Canada in about 1996 and restored in 1998. For years, the two have flown air shows around the region, including the Athabasca Fly-In Barbecue and the Hawg Flatts Bike Rally.
Speaking over the phone Sept. 1, Barry Pendrak said he did not want to comment.
Virginia Wasieczko, a director with the Smith-Hondo Association of Recreation and Agricultural Society, said the fair has no comment on the crash.
“It affects the community,” she said.
Fournier also told the Canadian Press two TSB investigators were being sent to the site and would arrive Sept 1.
“The transportation safety board will be involved,” Kelly said, adding that she did not know how long the investigation would take.
A Slave Lake RCMP member on the fairgrounds also said they had no comment, as did a representative from the Smith fire department.
The RCMP press release states Slave Lake RCMP are asking anyone who was taking video of the air show around noon to please contact the detachment at 780-849-3999, their local police service or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) if they wish to remain anonymous.
“They’re requesting anybody that took any video during the air show to contact police to provide that footage,” Kelly said.
