After four days of searching, the mission to locate local pilot Scott Schneider, his dog and his airplane came to a tragic end Thursday.
RCMP in Mayerthorpe reported Thursday evening Aug. 16, that the wreckage of a small plane was spotted in a wooded area in Lac St. Anne County, south of Oldman Lake. A few hours later, officials confirmed the wreckage was that of Schneider's plane and that his body was found inside along with his dog, who was also deceased.
The plane was discovered by Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) personnel following the review of local radar logs from a nearby airport.
"The search and rescue technicians from the Canadian Forces were doing air patrols and they had spotted the wreckage from the air," said Cpl. Chris Warren with RCMP media relations Friday. "There was no signal, it was spotted from the air during the search that was underway and at that point the RCMP in Mayerthorpe were notified."
Forty-year-old Schneider was scheduled to land at the Westlock Municipal Airport the evening of Sunday, Aug. 12, but never arrived.
The Department of National Defense (DND) coordinated the search for Schneider, a resident of Westlock for the past nine years, who took off in his single engine Cessna 172 from Edson at 5:20 p.m. and was supposed to land at the Westlock airport about two hours later.
Schneider was reported missing when he didn't show up for work on Aug. 13. and the DND was called in to spearhead the search effort soon after.
Local RCMP acted in a support role in the search and received numerous tips after issuing a press release Aug. 14. These tips were passed on to searchers.
RCAF deployed two CH-146 Griffon helicopters, one from 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton and one from Combat Support Squadron at 4 Wing Cold Lake, joining a CC-130 Hercules from 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron, based out of 17 Wing Winnipeg.
The military aircraft were joined by Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) personnel, said Capt. Trevor Reid of 8 Wing Public Affairs in Trenton, Ont., Thursday before the wreckage was found.
CASARA is a group of private pilots who assist in search and rescue operations and are valued for their local knowledge and expertise, he said. Sixty RCAF and CASARA personnel were involved in the search.
The hilly and sometimes wooded terrain in the search area, along with the smoky haze in the skies did prove a challenge for searchers, said Reid.
"Unfortunately, due to the haze and smoke produced by the wildfires (CASARA) aircraft have not yet been able to take to the air," he said, adding the RCAF aircraft were luckily able to navigate through the smoky conditions and continued their search unabated, sometimes using night vision equipment to search after the sun went down.
Major Gerry Favre, searchmaster for 1 Canadian Air Division thanked those who provided tips to searchers and everyone else involved in the four-day search.
