KELOWNA, British Columbia, Oct. 14 (UPI) — Former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice is among four people who died when their twin-engine Cessna aircraft crashed en route to the Calgary area from British Columbia.
Canadian transportation officials said Prentice, 60, was aboard the small aircraft when it disappeared from radar shortly after departing from Kelowna in British Columbia. The wreckage was found near Winfield, B.C.
Prentice was the 16th premier of Alberta, serving until he lost the provincial election in May 2015. After his defeat, he joined the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., as a visiting fellow.
Bill Yearwood, of the country’s transportation safety board, said the crash was “unsurvivable.”
“The aircraft is destroyed; all persons on board lost their lives,” he said.
Surrey Air Traffic Control alerted emergency officials at 10:07 p.m. Thursday it lost track of the plane. It was discovered in a wooded area.
“Several resources were immediately dispatched to the jet’s last known location,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said.
