Crash on frozen Lake Winnipeg "Parts of the plane were all over the place"

Edmonton Journal

Two men survived the crash of a small plane Saturday afternoon onto a frozen Lake Winnipeg shortly after they had taken off from Manigotagan, Man.

Dietrich Hapel, pilot of the privately owned, single-engine aircraft, didn't want to comment Sunday until he had spoken with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, but did say the weather was "snowy and misty."

Manigotagan residents on Sunday identified the passenger as Clinton Moosehorn. He could not be reached for comment but one rescuer said Moosehorn broke an arm and had a gash on his chin.

"Parts of the plane were all over the place," said rescue party member Kenny Thomas, adding that Hapel tried using the smoking remnants of the aircraft plane as a signal for several hours before giving up and walking back home to summon help.

Both Hapel and Moosehorn were taken to Pine Falls Hospital where they remain with non-life-threatening injuries.

The two left Mantago Bay and quickly encountered bad weather, RCMP said. Hapel tried to return but failed. Manigotagan is 150 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.