Pilot from Saskatchewan killed in B.C. float plane accident
Chris Holmes wanted to fly before he could drive.
Holmes’ love of flying started in his childhood when he would play flight simulators on his computer. Even then, Holmes was a dedicated virtual pilot.
“If kids came over to play with Chris, he had to land the plane first,” Holmes’ cousin Derek Burt said this week in a phone interview from Calgary.
Holmes, who grew up in the southwest Saskatchewan town of Maple Creek, died in a float plane crash on a British Columbia lake on Aug. 1. He was 29.
Holmes had been working as a bush pilot for Fort Langley Air, which provides charters and sightseeing tours. He was a passenger on board a float plane that crashed into Tyaughton Lake, about 100 kilometres west of Lillooet. The RCMP said witnesses reported seeing the plane plunge into the lake shortly after takeoff.
Two other people were on board the plane. One of them was killed in the crash, and another survived with serious injuries. Holmes’ body was initially missing, and was recovered from the water a day after the crash.
The cause of the crash is still unknown. The RCMP has turned the investigation over to the Transportation Safety Board and the B.C. Coroners service.
After finishing high school in Maple Creek, Holmes began a journey to become a pilot that eventually took him to Aldergrove, B.C. in 2016. He got his bush pilot certification a year later.
Being a bush pilot isn’t an easy job. It doesn’t pay well, and involves flying smaller planes to remote areas. Burt had tried to convince his cousin to pursue other career avenues in aviation, but Holmes knew what he wanted.
“He said, ‘You know what, I don’t need to go anywhere else. This is my dream job. I’m really happy,’” said Burt.
Being a bush pilot gave Holmes the opportunity to visit incredible landscapes. The idea of his float plane being the first to land on a remote lake appealed to him greatly.
That Holmes had to die so shortly after getting the job he always wanted has been devastating for his family.
“Getting his bush pilot rating and being a bush pilot was literally his dream job. So just to have it happen at this time when he was sort of achieved his goals is particularly devastating to the family,” said Burt.
Most of Holmes family reside in Maple Creek, where his funeral was held on Monday. To keep his memory alive and support other aspiring pilots, Holmes’ family is crowd funding money to establish a memorial scholarship that will help people in Maple Creek and southwest Saskatchewan pursue their dreams of flying.