The RCMP has suspended water searches in Mistastin Lake, the site of a float plane crash on July 15.
The plane had seven occupants on board.
The RCMP announced Thursday afternoon it has suspended water searches of the lake.
They said there are no new findings or information that could define further search areas of the massive body of water situated in a very remote area of Labrador.
As of The Telegram’s press deadline, three occupants of the plane remain missing. In addition, the plane’s fuselage has not been located, despite extensive efforts by the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team and the Fleet Dive Unit (Atlantic).
A news release from B Division of the Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP said its aircraft will continue to do flyovers of the area when possible — depending on availability and weather conditions. Any new information or sightings will be investigated.
This decision has been communicated to the families of the missing men.
The de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver went down about 100 kilometres southwest of Nain. It is owned by Air Saguenay of Quebec.
Mistastin Lake is accessible only by air. The lake measures approximately 16 kilometres in length and locals familiar with the lake have indicated that depths could exceed a few hundred metres.
The plane departed a fishing lodge at Crossroads Lake, east of Schefferville, Que., on the morning of July 15 and was heading to a remote fishing camp on the lake. The plane was reported overdue late that night, after it failed to return by 7 p.m. as expected.
The plane wreckage had been visible from the air at first, but it is believed that high winds and heavy rains contributed to the plane sinking prior to the RCMP expert divers and investigators getting in to the scene with the required equipment for comprehensive searching.
The bodies of fishing guide Dwayne Winsor of Deer Lake, guest John Weaver II of Chicago and James Slamon of New Jersey have been recovered.
The body of the 50-year-old fishing guide from this province. has also been recovered, but his identity has not been released. The airplane’s pilot Gilles Morrin (Quebec) and Weaver’s two sons — Matthew and John — are still missing.
A team from Maritime Forces Atlantic completed its search and left the site on Aug. 9.
The RCMP dive team and its investigators pulled out from Mistastin Lake on July 27, nine days after arriving at the crash site.
Its search efforts resulted in the location of the body of the fourth victim of the plane crash, the unidentified 50-year-old man from Newfoundland and Labrador. Three occupants of the plane remain missing.
The teams on site as of July 27 employed a host of specialized equipment that included:
• Seabotix Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), a portable underwater inspection device
• Klein Side Scan Sonar
• Deep Trekker, a robust deep-water ROV
• Remus 100 – Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with advanced tracking systems.
The cause of the crash is still undetermined.
