RCMP police officers, including the Underwater Recovery Team, have been at Mistastin Lake since Friday searching for the remaining four occupants of the plane that crashed in Mistastin Lake last week. As of this morning, neither the plane’s fuselage nor any of the missing men have been located.
While the plane was visible from the air early last week, it is believed that high winds and heavy rains contributed to the plane sinking prior to the RCMP expert divers and investigators getting in to the scene with the required equipment for comprehensive searching.
Objects of interest in the lake have been identified through the use of side scanning sonar and will be investigated by divers today. The RCMP cannot speculate on what these objects are. A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) is also on site and will be used as needed during the search efforts.
Mistastin Lake is located in a very remote area of Labrador, situated approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Nain, and is accessible only by air. The lake measures approximately 16 kilometres in length; locals familiar with the lake have indicated that depths could exceed a few hundred metres.
Further updates will be provided as warranted when new information becomes available.