2 dead after plane crash in Kananaskis Country: RCMP

Crash happened in Mount McDougall area in Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park

Two people died in a plane crash Saturday morning in the Mount McDougall area of Kananaskis Country, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC News.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says the crash happened at 9:15 a.m. MT in Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park. The federal agency says the plane involved was a Cirrus SR22 that had left the Springbank, Alta., airport just after 8:50 a.m. MT and was headed to Campbell River, B.C.

Witnesses at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course reported a plane that to them appeared to lose power, and then crash into a mountain, according to RCMP.

Alberta conservation officers, park rangers, Kananaskis Mountain Rescue team members, and STARS were among those who responded to the scene.

RCMP say the bodies and plane have not yet been recovered. The TSB says weather and the location of the crash are inhibiting the ability to reach the site.

The TSB is leading the investigation.

Amir Said is a multimedia journalist with CBC Calgary. He is an alumnus of the University of Regina, and his award-winning work as a writer and photographer has been published by outlets across Canada, including Postmedia, The Hill Times and The Narwhal. Amir can be reached at amir.said@cbc.ca or through social media.

With files from Jennifer Keiller