Submitted. At 4:30 pm today the Abbotsford Police Department were advised of a possible air emergency involving an Ultralight aircraft that departed Abbotsford with an intended destination of Maple Ridge. The aircraft disappeared from control tower radar and a beacon was sending a signal from an area in the Northwest region of Abbotsford.
Abbotsford Police, two search and rescue teams and a CFB Comox Cormorant helicopter began searching for the aircraft. Challenges impacting the search included darkness, heavy rain and forested terrain.
Just after 9:00 pm searchers located the plane wreckage and the pilot in an area south of Highway 1 near Ross Road. Tragically, the pilot was deceased and early indications are that he did not survive the crash.
We offer our condolences to the family and friends of this man. The APD will not be providing his name or further information concerning him at this time.