100 Mile House
Cariboo invasive plant series brings awareness
Several records fell at south end inter-school meet
The art of Neil Pinkett is on display
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JUNE 13, 2012
Relay For Life
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• 48 Pages • Two Sections
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Victims survive horrifying crash Carole Rooney Free Press
A plane crash in 100 Mile House on June 9 left its three occupants and several people on the ground lucky to be alive. The Cessna 172 hit a downdraft just moments after takeoff around 3:45 p.m. and clipped secondary power lines before crossing Highway 97, smashing through the Blue Sky Restaurant sign and losing a wing. 100 Mile House FireRescue chief Darrell Blades says the inverted plane then crashed onto the parking lot of the restaurant and skidded across the asphalt into the rear, brick wall of TW Tanning tail-first. It also impacted a small pickup truck parked there. “There were three occupants, the pilot and a male and a female passenger, and they all went to hospital and were all released within a couple of hours. It was all minor injuries.” Upon arrival, he adds, his crew found emergency personnel already attending to the occupants, but remained on site to ensure a fire did not break out.
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A plane crashed into a building behind the Blue Sky Restaurant on June 9, shocking witnesses and stopping traffic. The three occupants received minor injuries, after the small aircraft hit several obstacles that likely slowed it down. 100 Mile House RCMP Sgt. Don Mclean says police maintained the crash site until authorization was received from the Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the cause, to have
the plane removed. Passengers Greg Rector and his wife, Denise Britton, were en route to Silvertip Lodge on Quesnel Lake with pilot John Baker, one of the principals at the lodge,
Rector says. “We were taking off [east] toward town and it was all good. I’ve been in lots of small planes, and everything felt fine and we were above the power lines.
“Then all of a sudden the plane dropped because of the downdraft and all I saw was that power line.” The line was across the middle of the windshield, he explains, when Baker
immediately dropped the plane below it. “It was instant. I was still processing ‘power line’ [in my mind] when he did that. See CRASH… page A5
Minister Chong’s comments irk Mayor Campsall Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Ida Chong recently sent an editorial to provincial media, stating municipal governments should “turn their minds toward cutting costs,” as the higher government levels do.
District of 100 Mile House Mayor Mitch Campsall said his municipal office costs are lower than the standard elsewhere in British Columbia. Chong stated governments need to work together to re-evaluate
the potential for shared services and identify best practices to build infrastructure and maintain stability and jobs, “rather than just fight for a bigger piece of the pie.” The province’s new office of the Auditor
General for Local Government is one way, Chong explained, the ministry is working towards accomplishing these goals. However, Campsall said the auditor general wouldn’t to help build infrastructure or maintain
economic stability. “I disagree with that comment. It’s yet to be proven… that’s a dream that they’ve got, but it’s completely unknown whether it’s going to do anything. See CHONG… page A3