Float plane crash fatalities identified

The B.C. Coroners Service has identified the two victims of a float plane crash last Friday on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Pilot Grant Clifford Howatt, 66, of Ladysmith, and passenger Charles Henry Turner, 63, of Courtenay, were on board the Air Nootka plane with four others when it crashed soon after taking off from Hesquiat Lake, about 53 kilometres northwest of Tofino, on the morning of Aug. 16.

Two of the survivors sustained serious injuries and were sent to Victoria General Hospital, while another two walked away from the crash unharmed.

The Beaver plane was travelling to Air Nootka’s base in Gold River.

Air Nootka released a statement Friday confirming the loss of one of its pilots, describing Howatt, who had owned the airline with his wife from 1994 to 2006, as a “very knowledgeable and skilled pilot.”

Howatt had more than 16,000 accident-free flying hours, according to Air Nootka.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Grant’s family as well as the other families affected by this tragedy,” the airline’s statement read.

“He will be sorely missed and always remembered.”

Turner, one of five hikers on board the plane, was an avid mountaineer and a member of the Alpine Club of Canada.

Ken Rodonets, who knew Turner for 15 years, said he was a safety-conscious mountaineer who often looked out for others.

“He was a quiet, softspoken person, he had a very good personality and good humour,” Rodonets said in an earlier interview with The Canadian Press.

A private memorial was held Saturday in Courtenay, according to the Comox District Mountaineering Club, of which Turner was a member.

The Transportation Safety Board continues to probe the cause of the crash.