Two people dead after Cessna 172 plane crashes near Kisbey, Sask.

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Emergency vehicles block the road to the area believed to be the site of the aircraft accident near Kisbey, Sask., Friday, Sept. 18. (Image Credit: Submitted/Chenoa MacArthur)

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“The entire Harv’s Air Family is shocked and saddened by this tragedy. Both pilots had close ties to their fellow students and instructors. We extend our deepest condolences to family and friends,” Penner wrote in an email.

Harv’s Air is a Manitoba-based flying school, air taxi, and aircraft maintenance organization.

Penner added that Harv’s Air is working with the TSB, Transport Canada, and the RCMP to determine what caused the crash.

In a statement from the TSB, investigators were sent to the site of a small aircraft accident near the town of Kisbey, Sask.

Kisbey is located in southeastern Saskatchewan, north of Estevan, near Moose Mountain Provincial Park.

Witness account

A witness who watched the response unfold says she first noticed something unusual when she saw what she believed was a military aircraft circling the area repeatedly.

Chenoa MacArthur, who lives in southeastern Saskatchewan, said relatives had been sending her videos and messages about the aircraft before she spotted it herself while driving back toward the area.

“I could see that the plane was kind of — it was starting to shorten its radius when it was doing flyovers,” MacArthur said. “It was just kind of getting smaller and smaller.”

MacArthur said she eventually drove north of Kisbey, where she noticed something coming from the back of the aircraft.

“I grab my binoculars, and I look through them, and I’m like, there’s some guys,” she said. “There’s, you know, a couple of guys in parachutes.”

She said she also saw orange smoke in the area.

As she continued driving, MacArthur said the response on the ground quickly intensified.

“All of a sudden, these police cruisers just come flying up,” she said. “I just pulled over, and I was like, I’m not getting in their way.”

MacArthur said more police vehicles continued arriving as crews moved toward the area.

She and her family kept their distance while watching the response and expressed sympathy for those affected by the accident.

“My heart and my condolences go out to them,” MacArthur said.

TSB’s preliminary report expected this week

The Transportation Safety Board said investigators have completed their work at the accident site, where they documented the scene, examined the wreckage and retrieved components for later examination.

“At this stage, there is limited new information to share, other than that there was a post-impact fire,” a spokesperson for the organization said in an emailed statement.

The board said its investigators will work to gather more data and conduct interviews over the coming days.

“We expect to have a preliminary summary of the occurrence to share later this week,” the spokesperson added.

The Saskatchewan RCMP said officers got a report about an aircraft missing at around 5:41 p.m.

“Two RCMP officers were responding when the Department of National Defence, who was searching for the plane, advised they had located it in a remote, rural area near Kisbey, SK,” the Mounties said in a statement.

“The site was only accessible via ATV and the RCMP officers used the detachment ATV to access the site. RCMP Collision Reconstruction provided support to Transportation Safety Board of Canada at the scene.”

The RCMP said it will not provide more information on the crash, as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation.

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