8 killed in crash above Skaha Lake
EDITOR’S NOTE: In recognition of Canada’s 150th anniversary, The Herald is reprinting historic stories from the South Okanagan focusing on the biggest news story of each year.
April 29, 1963 – Six naval divers from the Royal Canadian Navy base at Esquimalt equipped with special deep-water scuba gear took over the search today for the bodies of six of eight persons, including five members of the Dick Parmley family of Penticton at the scene of Saturday’s tragic collision of two light airplanes at Skaha Lake, three miles south of Penticton.
Shortly before Herald press time the divers brought ashore one engine from the wreckage of the twin - engine Aero Commander which was in collision with a Cessna 140 piloted by Ed Lewko of Penticton at five p.m. Saturday.
The Commander lies in about 150 feet of water.
The engine was towed ashore with the aid of an RCMP launch and taken to Penticton for examination by Department of Transport inspectors.
The three blade propellor of the engine was still intact although the blades were heavily bent. BODIES NOT RECOVERED Also brought ashore was part of the engine housing of the singl-engine Cessna, lying in about 65 feet of water, 200 feet from shore.
At press time, bodies of the six missing victims of the crash had not been located. Cloudy afternoon skies and a threat of wind and rain hampered recovery operations.
But divers hope to bring up more wreckage scattered on the lake bottom before operations are discontinued for the day. A DOT spokesman told the Herald at press time that he “had no idea” when the bodies will be recovered. The collision took the lives of eight people, including five members of the well-known R. G. (Dick) Parmley family of Penticton. Killed in the crash were Mr. Parmley, 49, regional distributor for Royalite Oil Company; his wife, Margaret, 47; his daughters Rebecca, 17, and Lorinda, 8, and son, Richard, 15; Ernest Ralph Hansen, 19, a friend of the family; Earl Sibley, 28, a native of Dartmouth, N.S. and pilot of the Parmley aircraft; Ed Lewko, 37, recently arrived in Penticton from Edmonton, pilot and lone occupant of the second aircraft.
The only member of the Dick Parmley family who was not aboard the aircraft was 14 year old Jenny Lee who, still in a state of shock, is being cared for by her uncle and aunt, Dr. and Mrs. T. F. Parmley, Eckhardt Ave. West
The two planes smashed together at five o’clock Saturday afternoon about 400 feet above glassy smooth Skaha Lake on the outskirts of Penticton.
It was the first perfect spring day in the southern Okanagan, as hundreds of holiday makers were eye-witnesses to the tragedy.
Eye witnesses said the twin engine Commander with the Parmleys aboard was flying south down the lake, and preparing to turn for an approach to Penticton Airport two and a half miles away.
The single - engine Cessna, heading north, suddenly swung into a 360-degree torn with wings almost vertical, said one witness, prominent Penticton lawyer Peter O’Brian.
Several witnesses said they thought the Commander pilot, an experienced CPA airline pilot, fought the controls for a few seconds in an attempt to ditch the plane on a fairly even keel in the smooth water only 400 feet below. WALLOWED IN AIR The Commander wallowed in the air, then nosed over and struck Skaha Lake at a steep angle. Witnesses said the twin engine plane seemed to “explode” just under the surface after impact.
Residents of nearby beach homes immediately launched boats to try to rescue any survivors of the catastrophe. Penticton alderman Douglas Stuart raced to the debris strewn over the lake surface and helped recover parts of two mutilated bodies which bobbed to the surface immediately.
Department of Transport officials and RCMP officers are still trying to determine positively how the collision happened. Both aircraft are believed to have been in good mechanical condition, and the weather was perfect for light plane flying.
RCMP and local voluntary scuba divers rushed to the scene of the tragedy Saturday evening to begin a lengthy search for the aircraft at the bottom of the lake. DOT OFFICIAL In charge of Department of transport investigation of the tragedy here is Dr. T. G. How, regional director for air services, assisted by investigators Cy Leyland and William McCubbin.
The DOT official, intend to recover a substantial amount of the wreckage of the two planes before giving an opinion on the probable cause of the accident.