Witness who saw plane plummet rushed to help

Man noticed single-engine aircraft’s tail dragging before it crashed, killing two

Two people are dead after a plane crash near Swift Current.

A small, single-engine aircraft went down less than a kilometre from the Swift Current Airport, shortly after taking off from the facility around 7 p.m. Thursday.

The 1979 American Aviation plane, which was privately owned, originated from Nelson, B.C., and was en route to Regina.

Dan Leshures, who ranches north of Swift Current, was loading bales in a field about a half mile away when he saw the plane take off from the airport. He thought to himself that the plane didn’t seem to be going very fast and the tail was dragging a bit. He loaded another bale and when he looked back he said, “It tipped off to the right and spiralled to the ground.”

Flames and smoke were rising from the crash site as he dialed 911 and made his way toward the wreckage. He said the tail end was still intact when he arrived on scene, but not much else. A few others who witnessed the crash were already there with fire extinguishers when Leshures arrived.

Brian Weedon and Duane Smith were among those shooting at the Swift Current trap club Thursday night when the crash happened. Between hearing protection and shots being fired no one in the group heard anything but someone spotted a plume of smoke not long after they’d seen the plane flying overhead.

As Smith called 911 a group jumped in Weedon’s truck to see what had happened and when they moved past a patch of trees they saw the plane in flames.

Weedon said there wasn’t much recognizable when they arrived at the scene. He and Smith walked the field around the crash in hopes of finding someone who was able to escape the wreckage but to no avail.

Those first on scene, including EMTs, controlled the fire in the field before the RM of Swift Current volunteer fire department arrived and put out the flames. It was after that was done, said fire Chief Louis Cherpin, that they were able to confirm there were two bodies inside.

Weedon, who has taken flying lessons and has lost four friends to aircraft incidents over the years, said he thought the plane might have been doing touch-and-go landings, an exercise in which pilots land and take off again immediately for practice.

“You don’t think much about what you’re seeing,” said Smith. “You’re just thinking of the family or families and what’s it’s going to mean to them.”

Leshures said he was also worried about fire spreading through the barley in which the plane crashed, but the field was just green enough that it burned only about 60 feet around the crash site.

An investigation team from the Transportation Safety Board is from Winnipeg was dispatched and was expected to be at the crash site by mid-afternoon on Friday.

The airport is about six-anda-half kilometres east of Swift Current. It handles private and government aircraft, as well as corporate charters and military training.

You don’t think much about what you’re seeing. You’re just thinking of the family or families and what’s it’s going to mean to them.