TSB to probe fatal sinking off Tofino
TOFINO — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has sent investigators to assess Sunday’s sinking of a fishing vessel northwest of Bartlett Island, near Tofino, which left two men dead.
The board said Tuesday that its team of investigators will examine the circumstances around the sinking of the Catatonic.
Two Alberta men died when the sport-fishing vessel with five people aboard took on water and overturned.
Three other people survived after being in the water for an hour and a half.
The victims have been identified by their families and on GoFundMe pages as Alvin Beckley and Mike Cutler, who were working on a construction crew at Tofino’s Pacific Sands Resort.
According to the GoFundMe page set up for Beckley’s family, the Calgarian is survived by his wife, Jacqui, and three daughters, ages eight, six and three.
Cutler, an electrician, leaves behind two sons, ages 15 and 17.
Beckley is described as 38 on the GoFundMePage set up for his family, but according to the RCMP, the men who died were 32 and 42.
The GoFundMe page for Cutler does not list an age or a hometown. The RCMP did not identify the victims.
Mounties are also investigating the capsizing of the 8.4-metre vessel.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said it received a distress call from someone on the boat on Sunday about 1:20 p.m.
Canadian Coast Guard rescue boats, a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter and a plane from Canadian Forces Base Comox were dispatched to look for those thrown into the water, and a broadcast was put out asking marine vessels in the area to help in the search, the centre said.
Two commercial float planes also responded to the call for help and one of them spotted the people in the water and directed rescuers to the location.
Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne said the incident occurred in an area where the whale watching vessel Leviathan II capsized in October 2015, resulting in six deaths when 27 people were dumped into the water.
The Transportation Safety Board has yet to complete its investigation into the cause of the Leviathan II capsizing.
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