Canadian Aviator Magazine

Faced with an apparently successful petition campaign to save Edmonton City Centre Airport, Edmonton City Council now needs to decide how to proceed.

At least one council member, Coun. Linda Sloan suggested they just get on with it and draft a question for the Oct. 18 election.

But the majority of council wants to wait for the review of 92,563 signatures of people who say they live in Edmonton and want the airport closure plan put to a vote.

It's not known how long the review process will take but the Envision Edmonton group that gathered the signatures needed only about 78,000 to force the vote under Edmonton's citizen initiative bylaw.

Authorities have released the names of four men killed in the crash of a Piper Comanche in southern B.C. and have confirmed that all died from impact injuries in the crash.

Dead are pilot Rama Tello, 36, and passengers Salem Dedovic, 30, Jasson Kevin Christopher Patrick Minor, 35, and Maya Paulo Nicholas Tello-Wrigley, 21.

The wreckage and bodies were found near Apex Mountain Resort, about 25 nm from Penticton Airport, where the aircraft left on a flight to Victoria two weeks ago.

Although the cause of the crash won't be determined for months, local pilots say it appears the heavily loaded aircraft, flying on a hot day, may have succumbed to the "Apex Illusion" in which pilots believe they can outclimb the terrain near the resort but find themselves boxed in.

The Transportation Safety Board says the preliminary examination of the site suggests the aircraft hit the ground vertically.

A piece of one of the floats of a Cessna 180K that went missing on a flight from Baie Comeau to Grand-Bergeronnes, QC has been found.

Although authorities haven't confirmed the piece of aluminum came from the missing aircraft, the Canadian Press is reporting that someone with knowledge of the aircraft has positively identified it as being from the plane carrying Grand-Bergeronnes resort owner Jacque Deschenes and a pilot.

The plane left Baie Comeau on Thursday night and was reported missing Friday.

Search officials have confirmed that all four people aboard a Piper PA24 Comanche died when the aircraft crashed west of Penticton, B.C. Aug. 17. 

Military and civilian aircraft have been searching the rugged area since Aug. 18 and the wreckage was spotted early in the afternoon of Aug. 25. Searchers reached the wreckage shortly afterward and confirmed all four occupants had died.

The aircraft was flown by 33-year-old Rama Tello and left Kelowna late on the afternoon of Aug. 17. After a brief stop in Penticton, the plane took off for Victoria about 5 p.m. It never showed up on Vancouver Centre radar, which resulted in the search being concentrated between Penticton and Hope.

The wreckage was found near the summit of Apex Mountain Ski Resort.

The week-long search was marked by controversy after a friend of Tello's posted a $10,000 reward. Military searchers said that resulted in a flood of civilian aircraft joining the search and almost resulted in the collision of one of the civilian aircraft and a military plane.