Image: William Snow, contributed / A Cormorant aircraft landed Saturday at Chilliwack Airport as part of a rescue mission.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Plane crash

Cessna aircraft crashes southeast of Chilliwack Lake Saturday, leaving 2 people dead

Apr 7, 2025 | 3:35 PM

CHILLIWACK LAKE — The Maritime Forces Pacific Public Affairs Office has confirmed that a Cessna 172 airplane lost contact Saturday (Apr. 5) and crashed about 40 kilometres southeast of Chilliwack.

According to a story from the Canadian Press, Mounties in Chilliwack say two people have been killed in the crash of a small plane.

Police say they were notified that a plane may have gone down about eight kilometres southeast of Chilliwack Lake.

Chilliwack Search and Rescue sent out a crew and discovered the crash site of the Cessna 172 with the bodies of two people inside.

Police say the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre was able to remove the bodies from the site.

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The statement says the RCMP is working with the Transportation Safety Board and the BC Coroners Service to determine a possible cause of the crash.

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria received an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal from a Cessna 172 at approximately 2:13 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 5, approximately 40 km southeast of Chilliwack. JRCC Victoria says the aircraft was reported missing after contact was lost through flight tracking software.

JRCC Victoria initiated a rescue mission in which a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 442 Squadron in Comox and a Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) fixed-wing aircraft out of Pitt Meadows responded. Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR), tasked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) after an automated iPhone crash notification, responded alongside the Cormorant and CASARA.

The CASARA located the crashed aircraft, at which point the RCMP took the lead.

Chilliwack resident William Snow provided Fraser Valley Today with a picture of a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter that landed Saturday at the Chilliwack Airport. He said there was a rescue mission Saturday afternoon.